all silent save the dripping rain
by ofb29
Summary: Mal and crew pull an almost honest job, but the delivery of the cargo goes disastrously wrong...post BDM. LAST CHAPTER! reviews always welcome!
1. Chapter 1

(A.N- first multi chapter Firefly fic. Will eventually be 8 chapters long, and hopefully part of a longer story arc eventually. Set post BDM, slight Rayne if you squint hard enough. Hope you enjoy. Reviews always appreciated. Ria)

Chapter 1

'River, you know, getting out of here quickly was the plan.'

Over the pilot's head, Zoë shot Mal a reproachful look at his tone. Their pilot, still relatively new at the flying game was trying to out fly a newer, much faster ship through a relatively narrow canyon. Didn't seem the best plan to break the pilot's concentration at that moment. Especially one who could pick up on every thought and emotion. And even Zoë could feel Mal's emotions at the moment and she wasn't the reader.

'The spider must get to the fly to eat it.' River said, her knuckles white where she was holding tight to the straining controls, her control on her brain just as tight, fighting off the fear and anger that abounded in the bridge. River concentrated on Zoë, feeling the staunch warrior woman stood behind her, using her steady emotions to anchor her against the storm that was Mal as she tried to coax more speed than Serenity was officially able to produce. River didn't have to wonder to know that Kaylee was sweating it out in the engine room, trying to keep the engine from falling apart under the massive exertion on it.

'Do you mind not making cryptic comments at the moment- and stop the spider eating the fly!' Mal said, rocked on his feet as River calmly steered hard to the left to miss an outcrop of rock.

'Captains should restrain themselves when they are reliant on others.' River said a small grin on her face as she eased the Firefly around two more outcrops. Zoë got it, quickly strapping herself into a chair, watching Mal take a few moments to follow her.

Mal got on the comm. system. 'This is your captain speaking- you may have noticed we are being pursued- it could get hairy-'

'Could?' Zoë muttered from behind him.

'strap yourselves in.' Mal finished, with a pointed look over his shoulder at Zoë. 'No need to be talking negative in front of our pilot.' He said to her.

Zoë's response was a single lifted eyebrow in disbelief, completely lost on Mal who had turned around again.

Without warning, the Firefly banked hard to the right, causing every one strapped in to thank whichever deity for the invention of seatbelts. Jayne was less happy as he was thrown across the mess. 'Why's it always me who gets thrown around. Gorram crazy pilot.' He muttered to himself as he finally got to the seats and strapped himself in. Simon and Inara were already there, strapped in. 'If your gorram feng li sister crashes this boat' Jayne said threateningly.

'I'd imagine we'll all be dead.' Simon finished, sounding far calmer than he actually was. It was worth the effort to see the scowl on Jayne's face.

The Firefly banked hard again, and then everyone's stomach seemed to plummet to their toes as the Firefly began climbing.

'Uh, River, there appears to be a wall of rock right in front of us.' Mal said, as calmly as he could. He looked over at his pilot. She was sat, back straight, eyes forward, a calm look on her face. 'Uh River? Rocks?'

River was enjoying herself, as perverse as that thought was. She was well aware of the rock in front of her, and of the very large lake being kept at bay behind it. She could feel the ship behind them, feel them as they loaded up the two rocket launchersready to target the fleeing Firefly. They had given up on the idea of getting their cargo back- food stuffs, medical supplies, meant to be bound for the core planets, now on their way back to their rightful owners courtesy of the crew of Serenity. Whilst the pursuers had all but given up on the cargo, the principal of the matter meant they would quite happily shoot the boat out of the sky. Just as the first rocket was launched River pulled back, hard. The Firefly rocketed skywards narrowly missing the bank of rock, taking some scratches on the underbelly but nothing hull breaching. Underneath them the rocket connected with the rock, exploding on impact. For a moment, the damn seemed like it would hold. Till the second rocket hit, exploding on impact, the rock shattering on impact, helped outwards by the wall of water behind it,taking the pursuing boat with it back down the canyon.

River allowed herself a small smile as she levelled out Serenity, ignoring, as much as she could the screams of the drowning men far below. She didn't stop to ask Mal, but aimed hard burn to the sky, breaking atmo in a matter of minutes. It was only once out in the black that the very ship seemed to let out a deep sigh of relief.

Mal clapped River on the back as he stood up, grabbing the comm. and giving the all clear. 'Some damn good flying there, lil albatross. Set course for Raking.'

River was already plotting, the numbers coming easy to her running through her brain till Zoë stood behind her, gentle hand on shoulder, grief a sudden, strong wave of emotion choking her. 'Nice flying, River. Wash would have been proud.'

River nodded, accepting the compliment in silence, knowing that Zoë didn't want words in return. She'd heard all the comfort she could stand. River didn't know if it would help to say that all the skills she had she'd learned straight from the dead man.

River finished plotting their course into the navigation system, checking and rechecking, estimating that it would take twenty two hours, fifty three minutes and twenty-one seconds to reach Raking to allow for maximum fuel efficiency. A small planet, it survived on the only commodity it could grow, tomatoes, and relied on regular deliveries such as the one Serenity had rescued to keep alive. 

River stayed in the pilot seat for a while, her thoughts a mix of former pilots and the men far below, drowning in their own ship. Men she'd effectively killed. The men had been killers themselves, seemed poetic that they had been drowned by their own greediness. She stared out into the black, her hands on Serenity's helm, allowing the calmness of nothing to soothe her brain of emotions both hers and others before setting the boat to autopilot and heading below towards the mess. It was almost dinner time and for once they had some fresh vegetables to compliment the protein.

Kaylee met her at the door, hugging her quickly. 'That was some shiny flying back there.'

'Thank you for keeping the engine going.' River said sincerely. She reached forward, gently holding Kaylee's arm frowning as she added 'I didn't mean to hurt you.' She could feel the bruise, knew it had come from one to many hard banks whilst Kaylee had been in the engine room unable to brace herself quick enough.

'Don't think nothing of it. Rather have one bruise than be shot out of the sky.' Kaylee said brightly, looping her arm through River's and all but dragging her into the galley with her. The smell of dinner made River realise how hungry she was and she gladly sat at the table next to Zoë, grabbing a fresh roll that Inara had found at market.

'Are you ok, mei mei?' Simon asked as he carried a pot of tenderly steamed vegetables to the table.

'Fine, Simon. Not a scratch.' River answered, ignoring her brother's probing gaze in favour for demolishing the roll, knowing he hadn't been enquiring about her physical health. Zoë gave her a look but didn't say anything.

'Our lil' albatross damn near saved our lives.' Mal said from his place at the head of the table.

'This smells great.' Kaylee said, taking her seat next to Simon, squeezing his arm.

'That's because Doc didn't cook it.' Jayne commented as he sat next to River, grabbing a roll for himself.

Kaylee didn't acknowledge Jayne as Inara brought the rest of the food to the table, sitting at the head of the table opposite Mal. 'Help yourselves; won't stay hot for long.' She said, starting a free for all for the food, which Jayne, as always, won.

It had been a while since they'd had fresh anything, and there was little but crumbs left in under twenty minutes. That night most of the crew of Serenity slept with full bellies and quiet hearts, for once pulling an almost entirely honest job for an almost honest wage. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mal as always went via the bridge on his way to breakfast. It was habit- check the navigation (always perfect), check their progress, check the cortex. Finding nothing of interest, he carried on towards the mess. It felt early to Mal. He'd slept deep and long and woken naturally which was always a bonus. Time was a hard concept in the middle of the black. Customers expected them to make drop offs according to the time on their planet, but with the scenery changing so little around them, and only the unnatural burn of a bulb to distinguish day from night it was hard to keep track of where in the day they were meant to be. Mal tried to keep the day and night roughly the same, but there was always the inevitable time changes when landing planet side, making jet lag a way of life.

The ship was fairly quiet, and Mal had thought he was the only one to emerge from his bunk till he found River sitting at the table in the mess, nursing a mug of something. 'Mornin'' He greeted her as he went to get his daily fix of black liquid that was meant to taste like coffee. He looked back at the table when he reached the counter, surprised at the non response from his pilot. She looked pale, like she hadn't slept well. Not that unusual, to be sure. She was staring into the depths of her cup like it held the answers to the 'verse.

Mal poured the not tasting very much like coffee at all liquid into his mug, taking a long draw where he stood before walking to the table. 'Yesterday was good.' He commented.

River didn't look like she was listening much.

'Stole from the rich, gonna feed the poor.' Mal said, leaning back in his chair, mug in hand.

River finally looked up at him, a smile that looked more like a smirk on her face, a single eyebrow risen in question.

'Ok, so stole from the not quite so rich, to feed the not all that poor but relying on the cargo anyway, and so what if we happen to be getting paid for doing it.' Mal corrected himself. 'We get paid, you did some damn good flying, we got away without being shot.'

River finally spoke to interrupt. 'For now.'

Mal looked over at her. 'Something you know?' He asked.

River shrugged, her gaze returning to her mug. 'Not right. Not in balance. Connected. Spider can still catch the fly without being physically present.'

'There gonna be a trap at the drop off?' Mal asked as much as stated.

River shrugged again before looking over at him. 'Feels funky.' She finally added, something Mal could very easily identify with.

'That why you don't look so good this morning?'

'Sleep was interrupted. Brain was arguing with head.'

'You had a headache? Why didn't you get some of the doc's marvellous medicine?' he asked without thinking.

'No drugs.' She said with some vehemence.

'Ok, no drugs.' Mal said, 'I can understand that.' The issue of drugs was an ongoing one between River and Simon that Mal had had to referee on more than one occasion. Only he could stick his foot in it that fully.

Mal was about to offer a soothing cup of tea instead when Zoë walked in, followed closely by Jayne. In the next thirty seconds the mess was full of noise as they were joined by Kaylee and Simon. Mal swore the couple never had a bad day- always smiling even first thing in the morning. Wasn't so bad on Kaylee, he was used to her eternal sunshine mood, but it was downright unnerving to see Simon smiling so much.

Simon, predictably, caught on to River's less than sunny disposition, but sometime between Mal watching the others come in and Simon noticing River she had sat up straighter in the chair, wasn't holding the cup quite so hard, and even had the smallest of smiles on her face. Only training stopped Mal doing a double take. 'Good morning mei mei- are you feeling ok?' Simon asked as he leaned over to give her a kiss on her forehead.

'I'm fine, Simon.' River answered, almost automatically.

'Would you like some breakfast?' Simon asked, moving toward the counter and Kaylee who was using some of the fresh fruit they had to liven up the protein based cereal.

'Already ate.' River said, which Mal was sure was a lie, but wasn't about to contradict her in front of her brother. Her brother would ask why, and River would be forced to admit that she had a headache, and the Doc would immediately suggest drugs as a counter-balance which would only cause arguments which would totally mess up his sunny disposition. And as the captain, it was surely his right to prevent that from happening. He saw River's smile broaden slightly, and knew she had caught his thought. She caught his eye as she stood up from the table, thanking him with a slight nod of the head which Mal returned. 'Gonna go do some flying.' She said to the table in general, disappearing off in the direction of the bridge.

Kaylee joined her on the bridge mid morning. They worked closely together as Pilot and Engineer, helped by a mutual love and respect for Serenity, and were also close friends. Kaylee was possibly the first one on the boat that had seen past her craziness to view her as a girl, back pre Miranda, and they were often found giggling together, the bonus being that it drove Mal mad. Could be that they often happened to be sitting and giggling exactly where the Captain happened to end up not purely by chance.

They talked a little about the engine, how it was running in general, going over Kaylee's wish list of parts for the engine before moving onto more important discussion items.

'So, it's your turn.' River finally said, turning her seat away from the console she had mostly been pretending to man, to face Kaylee in the co-pilot seat.

'Oh yes.' Kaylee agreed, with much enthusiasm at the prospect, rubbing her hands together. 'Okaaaay.' She drawled; chin resting on joined fingers, regarding River with glee.

River waited out the silence, purposefully concentrating on Mal who was ranting about keeping the cargo area clean to Jayne to stop Kaylee's thoughts from entering. The anticipation was part of the fun, and River felt like only recently she had been learning to have fun again.

'Got it!' Kaylee finally exclaimed. 'Okay, by the time we land on Raking, you've got to have made up Jayne's face. With everything. Blush, eyeshadow, lipstick.'

River couldn't help but grin, as her tiredness faded, her headache dimmed at the prospect of carrying out the latest dare. 'And if I'm successful in this venture?'

'If you manage that I'll…do your washing up chores next week.'

'An enticing prospect.' River agreed. She didn't mind washing up, per se, but as Kaylee had successfully got Simon out of their bunk in his underpants on the last dare for Mal to see, River had had to do Kaylee's sanitation chores for a week. A week off of any chore was good after spending the last week ensuring that the waste pipes stayed unclogged.

The dare game had started by accident, when Kaylee had dared River in the middle of the longest seven day trip between planets ever to steal a pair of Mal's undergarments and hoist them flag style in the middle of the mess. So had began a game the two used to liven up the hours between jobs whilst deep in the black, mostly at the male member's of the crews expense.

'Any restrictions?' River thought to ask as her brain started whirring at how to get Jayne into the position to paint his face.

'No violence.' Kaylee immediately said. River pouted. 'And no drugs from your brother's stash.'

River wondered about her own stash, but didn't think this was the time to bring up the many tablets she managed to keep her brother from knowing she hadn't taken.

'No violence, no drugs.' River repeated. 'There's always my feminine wiles.' River mused with a grin. 'Wear a little dress, show a lotta leg, get him concentrating on a part of my body not holding a make up brush.'

'Hey, that's not fair! This is Jayne. Ok, new revision, no sex.' Kaylee said, making both of them start giggling, just as Mal came up the stairs to the Bridge.

'Hey what's the joke?' He asked, sounding bemused.

'N..nothing Captain.' Kaylee said, bringing the giggles under control but not being able to wipe the grin from her face. 'I was just gonna go…do something useful in the engine room.' She said, slipping from the bridge quickly, starting to giggle again as she did so.

'How far out are we?' Mal asked sitting in the chair Kaylee had vacated. He'd learnt not to probe about what the girls were giggling about as River was honest enough to give it to him straight- last time he'd asked they'd been discussing size attributes between the men on the boat. Although River had said quite bluntly that they were discussing the length of the penis sizes on the boat in relation to the size of hands and brain power. Mal had composed himself enough to ask if this included her brother. River had shaken her head, but then added that Kaylee seemed quite fascinated by it.

'Ten hours, fifty three minutes and-'

'Good, right on course.' Mal interrupted.

River glared at him for a second for even thinking that they wouldn't be right on course. Mal just grinned at her. 'You want a break? I'm gonna be on the Cortex for a while seeing about more jobs.' He told her.

River nodded, taking her leave. She wandered towards the Mess, grabbing some fruit and a glass of water and taking it to the table with her so that she could ponder Kaylee's latest dare while she ate. Several problems presented themselves straight away, the most obvious being getting Jayne into position without using violence. She pondered bribing him- money always seemed to work well with Jayne, but she didn't know if she had enough to convince him to let her put make up on him. The other problem being she didn't actually have much make up in the first place. Last time they'd been in Persephone she'd brought herself some lipstick, but that was about it. She knew about applying it, through observing Inara, but had never really thought about using it on herself.

Inara. That was it! She would have loads of make up, and River was sure that Inara wouldn't mind lending it to her if she didn't mention that it was for use on Jayne.

She finished eating and rinsed the empty glass before making her way to Inara's shuttle. Inara was on the cortex when she got there, so she waited patiently outside for her to finish before knocking on the shuttle door.

'River- it's nice to see you. Come in.' Inara said, leading her to the couch. 'Would you like some tea?'

'No, thank you.' River replied, sitting on the comfortable seat. Inara sat next to her.

'What can I do for you then?'

'I was wondering if I could borrow some of your make up. I would like to experiment.' River said. She didn't particularly like lying, even by omission but experiment covered a whole passel of ventures. As long as Inara didn't ask her to elaborate on the term.

'Oh of course, River!' Inara said. She stood, walking to a little chest and beginning to root through. 'Does your brother know you want to experiment?'

River scowled at the comment, but forced down her temper. She liked being around Inara. The Companion's natural hold on her emotions and thoughts made it easy for River to be around her and talk to her. But Inara also seemed to be stuck with the view of her as a child even after everything that had happened. 'Does he need to know?' River eventually asked.

Inara must have picked up something from her tone, because she turned to view her properly. 'I'm sorry River- that was thoughtless. I wasn't suggesting that you needed your brother's permission. I didn't phrase myself well. I was thinking that Simon could help you buy your own supplies when we next get the chance.'

'I have my own credits.' River pointed out.

'Of course, of course.' Inara sat back down next to her. 'I'm sorry, I keep forgetting…' She trailed off, and River got an image of herself standing, weapons in hand, covered in blood, covered in Reaver blood.

She fought the shudder threatening up her spine, and tried to smile. 'I'm not a child.' River finished for her.

'So much has happened.' Inara said, as if that was some sort of explanation. 'The way you flew yesterday- it was amazing.'

River nodded at the complement.

'I've got some basic stuff for you to try- I can help you if you want? Help find what suits you. Although personally I don't think you will need much- you have an enviable skin tone.'

'I can do this.' River said. 'But thank you. I will return it when I am done.'

'Oh, no need. These are all things I don't use.' Inara said.

River stood up, her hands full. 'Thank you.'

'That's quite alright. And I'm sorry, about what I said.' She got a thoughtful look on her face. 'Perhaps one day soon we should have a spa day.'

River knew she was just trying to make up for what she said, but was intrigued by the idea. 'What would a spa day entail?' She asked.

'Well, we could invite Kaylee and Zoë, and just spend the day pampering ourselves. Things like facials, and massages, and makeovers. It's good fun and very relaxing.'

River thought about this for a moment. It did sound like fun, and normal. 'That sounds enjoyable. Do you think Zoë would do it though?' She asked, doubtfully.

'Every woman likes a little pampering.' Inara said. River noticed the use of the word woman and understood what Inara was doing. 

River nodded again, and thanked her before exiting the shuttle. She had the make up, the promise of a spa day, and wouldn't even have to return the make up one she'd used it on Jayne. She just hoped that Inara wasn't too mad at her once she realised what the make up was to be used for and would still do the spa day.

She began walking to her room, but changed course, heading towards the bridge. Mal was still on the cortex, and acknowledged her entrance with the smallest of nods which she returned as she headed to the bank of lockers. She lined up the jars and bottles Inara gave her, laying out the brushes and other applicators carefully before closing the door and walking over to the pilot seat. Checking the navigational system, pleased to see that they were still on time and that for once their landing on planet would coincide with the unnatural time patterns they had on the ship. River found the jet lag hard to deal with, finding sleep a general chore anyway.

They would have a night docked on the planet before the exchange scheduled the next morning. As River thought about the exchange an uncomfortable feeling crept up on her. Like an itch that was too deep inside to scratch, it niggled at her brain, wriggled between neurons; something was off but she didn't know what. She let herself relax back in the chair, staring out in the black, letting the itch deepen inside of her, letting the background noise of the people thinking on the ship rush through her. A flash of yellow resounded in her head, like a lightening bolt splitting through the horizon.

'River!' Mal's voice startled her, and she was on her feet, staring down at him before she realised where she was. 'Woah.' Mal said, hands out in a "take it easy" way. 'You were really out of it. What were you thinking about?' he asked, immediately thinking back to their conversation earlier that morning.

'The exchange of goods for payment.' She confirmed his thought.

'Still feel funky?' He asked.

She nodded. 'Don't know why.' She added, with frustration, sitting back down again and facing the black. She didn't let control of her brain go like that for that very reason. It was too hard to pull back again, to stop the flow of voices and thoughts and feelings that threatened to overwhelm her once they had started. She had no idea what the flash meant, if it even meant anything to do with the exchange, or was just a random picture picked up from someone else.

'Don't matter, li'll albatross. If the job goes belly up…well, it wouldn't be the first job to go belly up.' He pointed out.

'I'm going?' She asked.

'Don't know yet. Haven't planned that far. Might need you on the boat for a quick getaway. Anyway, I hear lunch calling.' He said, standing up, gesturing for her to lead the way. 'What will come will come.'

'I'll get Simon to prep the infirmary.' River said brightly.

Mal laughed as they walked.

(like it? Loathe it? All reviews/suggestions/critiques welcomed)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lunch done with, utensils stashed away, River found herself walking the ship. She liked walking the ship. The ship was her home. She knew every nook and cranny, every inch of her, and she loved it all. She walked through the cargo bay, surprised to find it empty. Jayne was normally in there, working out, but the weight bench was standing unused as River wandered over to it. She and Jayne shared a slightly better relationship than they had pre Miranda. Only Jayne had ever talked to her about fighting the Reavers, something only Jayne had been fully appreciative of. The others had all feared what she had done, feared her ability to fight so many Reavers, even if they were thankful to be alive. They were quite happy to ignore it, push it away, forget that it even happened, glad to be alive, but not wanting to think about the reasons. What their pilot was capable of. It was why they didn't let her go on many runs. Too afraid they'd have to have the evidence of her unnatural abilities in front of them again. She often sat in the presence of Jayne, speaking about fighting because he was the only one who would speak to her about it; who, when she had had to cause to fight since, watched her rather than turned away.

She broadened her mind as she walked. She knew Kaylee was in the engine room, swinging on the hammock as she daydreamed about Simon. Mal was on the Bridge, talking to Zoë about a possible job they had after this one. Also filling her in about what River had said and done both that morning and just before lunch. Simon was hiding out in the infirmary, using the cortex to update himself on new research in the field of trauma surgery. Much of what he learned was too far out of reach to use in a small infirmary on a boat, but he liked to keep himself up to date anyway. Even if it was a worthless dream that one day he would be back in a hospital again.

River sensed the grief behind the dream, and quickly moved on, before guilt could hold her. She didn't like to think on what her brother gave up for her. Frowning now, she wondered instead where Jayne was. He wasn't awake, but he wasn't dreaming either. She wandered towards the mess, where she found him, flat out on the couch in dreamless sleep snoring lightly.

River couldn't stop the grin that spread on her face. It was too much of an opportunity to miss. Moving silently, River walked out in the direction of the bridge, the pattern of the makeup already formulating in her mind.

Dinner that night was a little later than usual, to allow for landing on Raking, and River was one of the last to sit at the table. She'd followed Mal's unspoken instructions, landing far away from town, perched on the side of an empty valley giving them as much cover as possible. Mal didn't feel safe on the ground, he would rather orbit the planet but that would take fuel which cost money and they couldn't afford that. River tried to hide them among the natural contours of the ground, shielded from sky and land as much as possible. The boat was quick to shut down, but River took a moment to scan the cortex and navigational systems, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Only after she was satisfied that they were alone did she join the others for dinner.

She'd only just sat at the table when an unnatural hush filled the room. Looking around, she saw the object of five people's stares and took a second to admire her handy work, having to fight to keep the satisfied grin off her face.

It took a long pause before anyone spoke, too stunned by the colourful vision of their big merc before them. 'Have you all been at the Doc's supply?' Jayne asked confused by their open mouth stares, looking around to make sure that there wasn't something he'd missed on the way in behind him.

'Jayne...' That was all Mal managed before the words died in his throat.

'Wow, you really brought out your eyes.' Simon said with a smirk, sitting back, arms crossed, enjoying himself immensely.

'…huh?' was Jayne's only response.

'I don't know, perhaps a little more kohl.' Kaylee said, eyes dancing as she glanced at River's perfectly composed face. She didn't know how the little pilot did it, but damn, Kaylee was impressed.

'No, the kohl is perfectly balanced. A little more blush perhaps, accentuate the cheekbones a little more.' Inara weighed in, her grin wider that anyone could remember for a while. She glanced at River, putting the pieces together quickly but the image of Jayne quickly wiped away any anger she may have had at being misled.

Zoë couldn't say anything, just laughed out loud with delight, a noise not heard in a long while, and it was like the dam had broken and soon everyone was laughing with her. Only Jayne was looking less than happy.

'What in the gorram flaming hell is going on here?' He roared over the laughing.

Mal pointed a finger, indicating that he had something on his face, before giving up and indicating with his hand his whole face. 'You got something…'

Jayne whirled around and disappeared. They all knew when he found a mirror by the long string of Chinese that cursed the whole boat and everyone in it and a surprising amount of animals to hell. The laughter took a long time to die.

'Who did it? Which one of you-'

'Jayne!' Mal yelled. 'Sit down before you ruin dinner.'

River smirked at him as he took his usual seat next to her, but declined from saying anything, simply passing him the bowl of protein someone had attempted to make into a casserole. He glared at her nastily.

'Don't think this is over.' Jayne told the whole table as he slopped food onto his plate, threatening them all with a chopstick. 'When I find out who did this…well they just better watch out.' He threatened.

River finally met Kaylee's look across the table, and it was all they could do to not break into giggles. Jayne had washed his face, but obviously hadn't heard of waterproof mascara. And being threatened by Jayne with make up still on just didn't have the same effect.

'…and the lipstick, oh I could have died laughing. Who'd have thought our big bad merc would look so good in hot pink lipstick.' Kaylee was sprawled across her bed, giggling just at the memory, River laying beside her, picking at her nail beds, giggling almost as much.

'Do you think he managed to remove the mascara yet?' River wondered aloud.

'I damn near thought he was gonna rupture something.' Kaylee said. 'Almost spit up my drink when 'Nara offered him her eye make up remover.'

A banging on the bunk door interrupted their reminiscing.

'Kaylee? Meeting, mess, five minutes.' Mal yelled through the door. He didn't handle seeing the inside of her bunk too well. Too pink and girly apparently.

''kay.'

'River in there with you?'

'Yeah.'

'bring her along.' Mal instructed, moving off.

'ooh, shiny.' Kaylee groused good naturedly, rolling off her bed. 'wonder what the meeting's about? Can't be about the water again.' The last meeting Mal had called was to complain about the amount of hot water the crew were using on their showers, mainly because he'd had one too many cold showers that week. Zoë had pointed out that he could shower in the evening, when there was plenty of hot water instead of the morning, but that had started Mal off on his "this is my boat, I'm captain, I should be able to do what I want when I want" speech which River had slipped away from. Mal's anger had become too much to swim through.

'Not complaining, planning.' River commented, also getting to her feet.

Zoë and Mal were already sitting when they got to the mess. Simon was in the kitchen, making a drink. Inara came in just as he finished, taking a seat opposite Mal at the head of the table.

Mal looked at her confused. 'Thought I'd see what all the fuss was about.' She said by way of answering. Mal never officially included her in the crime, but she liked to know what was going on, who was likely to get shot.

'Where's Jayne? Gorram that man, never on time.' Mal griped as those already there seated themselves.

'Keep your hair on.' Jayne said, coming into the mess from the direction of the cargo bay. 'You said I had five minutes.'

'Now that we're all here.' Mal said with a pointed look at Jayne, 'we got some plannin' to do.'

They all settled down for that. Everyone had been wary of another lecture on water consumption.

'Now, we've got a ton of cargo to deliver on the other side of this moon. We've never done business with these people, and I think bringing the whole of the cargo to the first meeting would be a mistake.' He glanced over at River, who met his look. He didn't mention what River had said that morning, but she knew that was the reason for the change of plan. 'Zoë and me will meet these people, establish connections. Jayne, you and River are gonna bring the cargo when we say it's safe in the shuttle.'

Zoë didn't seem at all surprised. River wasn't either, but the rest were looking all shades of confused.

'Why the shuttle?' Simon finally asked.

'Cause me and Zoë are gonna need somehow to get to the other side of this planet, and River's the better pilot. 'Sides, there's a lot of cargo.'

'And if the meet goes bad?' Simon asked.

'Then we get to keep the cargo.' Mal said.

'Why are you doing this different?' Simon asked suspiciously.

'Things change.' Was all Mal would say. 'Meetings over, be ready early am. I wanna get there before them.'

'Well, me and Crazy ain't gotta be there before you. Sleep in.' Jayne said.

'Gotta prep the mule.' Mal corrected him. 'load up the shuttle.'

Jayne groaned at the change of plan. 'Don't see why I gotta travel with Crazy.' He muttered mostly in retaliation. River could never detect any genuine malice behind the words now. Didn't stop him trying to pretend that he didn't like her, even respect her a little.

'Because you're such wonderful company.' River said with a grin. 'You can give me make up tips.'

Jayne snarled at her, which caused both her and Kaylee to immediately start giggling. Even Zoë was smiling. Jayne got up to leave the table, not liking to be the object of fun for the girls. 'Oh Jayne.' He paused at the door, not facing Mal. 'Storm due tonight, make sure she's stable.' Jayne nodded as he left the mess. He heard Mal continue as he walked. 'And girls, play nice. You've got a shuttle ride with him tomorrow.' He added, presumably to River.

Jayne smiled. Payback.

Payback, however, decided it had to wait. The day dawned dark and stormy, just as Mal had said. Jayne had walked round Serenity last night in the worst rain he'd seen for a while, ensuring the hull was watertight and there wasn't anything that could get blown away. The morning was worse. The wind whistled down the valley they were sat in, thunder cracked above and the rain fell in a relentless torrent.

Jayne found Mal and Zoë standing at the open mouth of the cargo bay, staring out at the rain. 'Can we hold sir?' he heard Zoë ask.

'No.' Mal said. 'Just a bit of rain. It'll be fine.'

Zoë gave him a look. 'Just a bit?' She asked, eyebrows raised as she looked once again at the torrent of water falling in front of them. Jayne was suddenly very glad he was flying with Crazy in the shuttle. At least it had a roof.

'Plan holds. Get the mule prepped.' Mal told them, turning back into the hold. His walk away was interrupted by a loud yell.

'RIVER!'

'Did that sound like Simon?' Zoë asked, sounding confused. Yelling wasn't that unusual on the ship, especially with Mal on it. But Simon rarely raised his voice, and certainly didn't sound like that when he was yelling at his sister.

'Perhaps we should go and…' Mal said indicating the stairs. Zoë and even Jayne were hot on his heels. It was a really small boat, and Jayne always liked to witness a fight. Especially when it could involve seeing Crazy fighting again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

River had been sitting eating her breakfast with Kaylee, before a flash of indigo coloured pain straight between her eyes told her someone was very angry. She knew about a second before Simon yelled her name who it was and why. 'Uh oh.' She said quietly into her bowl.

Kaylee looked up at her, confused. Till Simon yelled loud enough to bring everyone to the mess.

He stormed in, a furious look on his face. Two seconds after him, Mal and the others arrived at the other entrance. Simon was so focused on his sister that he didn't notice their arrival. 'How could you, River?' Simon demanded his voice loud.

Four people watched Simon's entrance. Only River didn't, just looked resigned.

'What's going on, Simon?' Kaylee asked, trying to get him to calm down.

Simon dumped a hand full of pills in front of her and River, standing with his hands on the table, staring down on River. 'Why aren't you taking them?' He demanded, his voice quieter, but the fury still there.

'What were you doing in my room?' River countered.

'I was cleaning it.' Simon said, 'why aren't you taking the medicines I gave you?'

'Didn't want to.' River answered truthfully. She could feel the waves of anger coming off Simon, buffeting her like the storm outside was buffeting the trees. She stood firm, though. She had known the confrontation would be inevitable but she hadn't appreciated the need for an audience. Or the fear she could feel pouring off of every single one of them when they realised what the pills signified.

'But you need them!' Simon said, sounding frustrated with her.

'No.' River disagreed, her voice quiet, teeth set on edge against the bitter thoughts and trepidation of those in the mess.

'Don't you want to get better?' Simon accused, sounding hurt, even.

River's anger at his tone forced her to her feet, mimicking her brother's stance, the audience forgotten, their feelings not. 'I. Am. Better.' She ground out.

'Mei mei…'                

'Stop!' River exclaimed. 'Stop treating me like a child.' River had to forcefully push against the other's thoughts, trying to concentrate solely on her brother.

'Mei mei, I only want the best for you. How could you just decide to stop taking the medicines without talking to me first?'

'I tried, Simon!' Words struggled out, between layers of emotion, and River fought to keep them under control. 'Tried talking but you wouldn't listen! Not a child that you can just order to do stuff. I know I'm not better. Not perfect, never perfect. But am an adult, 18, piloting a ship. Help with cargo exchanges. Bring in own credits. But you insist on treating me like I'm about to break all the time.'

'But I just want to' Simon started

'No!' River interrupted him. 'No! You don't just want to help me. You want to heal me. Cure me. Make me all better. Well you can't. You just can't. And I don't want the drugs anymore.' She said; words ground out using all her strength.

'Mei mei...'

'No drugs! And stop yelling at me.' She added, fingers kneading her forehead.

'I'm not yelling.' Simon said, sounding confused.

'She means in your head.' River growled at him, stalking out of the mess before the words all became too much and just tumbled out on their own.

A moment of stunned silence followed her out of the mess. No one had seen River and Simon argue like that. 'Well that went well.' Mal finally said. Simon actually growled at him, which would have been all kinds of funny if the frustration wasn't bleeding off him. Mal knew they didn't have time to sort out that little drama if they wanted to get to the drop off on time. 'We're going in five. Make sure you got your wet weather gear on.' He directed at Zoë. 'Be ready with the shuttle for our call.' He added to Jayne.

Jayne found River already installed in the shuttle when he brought the first of the crates up for loading. She had on a waterproof coat that was pink enough only to be Kaylee's over one of her flimsy dresses. Jayne thought about pointing out how cold it was in the wind and rain, then figured she probably wouldn't want to talk, and they would be in the shuttle for most of the trip anyway.

She was sat bolt upright in the pilot's chair, hands on the controls, staring out of the window. Jayne didn't know why she was bothering, wasn't like you could see shit through all the grey. The rain was falling even harder if that was possible. Jayne had never seen rain like it. She didn't acknowledge him, so he left her be, hauling up the seven crates and stashing them neatly in the small hold without saying a word.

The last crate stacked against the wall, he turned to River. He swore she was in exactly the same position as when he started. 'Ready to go?' She nodded. 'Good.' He said, taking a seat in one of the passenger chair, swinging it slightly with his mass. 'Just gotta wait on Mal. You reckon he got shot yet?' He wondered out loud.

River shook her head.

He looked at her properly, her face in profile. 'You know that for certain?'

She nodded.

'You gonna say anything?' He asked.

She shook her head.

'Gonna be kind of boring if'n you don't say anything.' He commented.

'Words buffeted, tossed around.' River said quietly. 'Too many to make sense.'

'You don't normally make that much sense.' Jayne pointed out to her.

She looked over at him properly, head tilted slightly as she considered what he had said. 'words of the world want to make sentences.' She said, looking worried at failing the words.

'Didn't go to school- wouldn't know a sentence if it came'n smacked me round the head.' Jayne commented honestly.

River smiled slightly as she turned back to the console.

'Serenity?' The static of the console made Jayne jump, but River was clearly ready for it.

'This is Serenity.' River answered Mal. Jayne noticed how precisely she spoke out the words, almost as if she was sounding out every one.

'We're ready for you, Albatross. Sending co-ordinates now. We've got half of the credits, rest on delivery.'

'Okay.'

'Ask for Tom. He's in charge. We'll meet you back on the ship. Too damn wet to be hanging 'round here.'

River acknowledged him before indicating for Jayne to use the comm. He did so with a grunt, telling Kaylee of their imminent departure.

'Ok Jayne. You're all clear. Hope the exchange goes shiny.'

'Bye, Kaylee.' He ended, about to put the comm. unit back down when Simon spoke.

'Is River there?' He asked.

'…' at first all Jayne could do was shake his head at the dumb question. 'who do you think's flying this thing?'

'Mei mei, be careful' Simon said, ignoring Jayne's sarcasm.

River steadfastly looked through the window, ignoring the sound of her brother's voice. 'We can talk properly when you get back, ok?' Simon added anyway into the silence. Even Jayne could guess how much fun that conversation was going to be.

River paused, and Jayne watched the almost visible fight River had with herself on whether to acknowledge her brother or not. Finally she pushed down the button on the comm. 'See you soon, Simon.' She said quietly, before with little show the shuttle was on its way.

It was a little over an hour flight in the small shuttle to the drop off point. They had to take a longer route than the mule could, to avoid the official flying lanes of the planet, and therefore the monitoring of all vessels. It took a good ten minutes, but Jayne knew the further they were from Serenity, the more River seemed to relax.

'Captain and Zoë are back safe.' She finally spoke up, after they'd been flying for around an hour.

'Good- maybe this plan will go safe then.' Jayne commented, still amazed after all this time that River could know this stuff.

'Serenity to shuttle two.' The comm. unit sparked to life, as if it had waited for River to speak.

'Yeah?' Jayne asked, completely forgoing any need for etiquette on the comm.

'How close are you to drop off?' Mal asked.

Jayne looked over at River. 'Five minutes, twenty two seconds.' She answered smoothly.

'Ok. We're back at Serenity. Exchange went smooth. But be careful- storm's gotten worse even in the last hour, and you got further to go.'

'It's just a bit of rain.' Jayne commented.

'Feels more like being dunked in a lake when you stand in it.' Mal told him. 'Just make sure my shuttle gets back in one piece.'

'What about us?' Jayne asked, feigning hurt in his tone.

Mal paused, a moment or two passing before he spoke. 'Yeah, you can come back too.' He finally said, the smile evident in his tone.

'Thanks.' River said sardonically.

'Just be careful.' Mal said, his tone turning serious. 'Ain't never seen rain like it.'

'We will weather the storm.' River told him, her tone equally as serious.

River steered them into landing on a rain swept piece of concrete in the middle of what might have been a town, although the torrent of rain masked anything more than ten feet away. 'I think the weather's taking the piss.' She commented casually, making Jayne laugh at her tone as she fought against the harsh wind to keep the shuttle steady. Even inside the shuttle the strength of the rain and wind was evident, buffeting them harshly, and Jayne could only watch amazed as River somehow brought the shuttle into a smooth landing. However much he complained out loud about having her as pilot, he couldn't help but be amazed at how naturally it came to her. Truth was, after Wash, he would have her piloting the ship any day of the week.

'Don't like this.' Jayne commented as River shut the engine off. 'Can't see shit.'

'Don't have to.' River said, hopping out of her chair and crossing the shuttle to open the door. 'Tom?' She asked the man walking towards them, his head bowed against the torrential rain.

'Yeah. You got the cargo?'

Jayne grunted, indicating the stack behind them.

'Good, mule's that way.' Tom said, indicating behind him. Jayne passed him a box, taking one for himself and following him out into the storm. He had on a waterproof jacket but was almost instantly soaked. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of water over him. 'Don't know why I bothered with the jacket.' He muttered to himself before lifting his voice. 'Crazy, stay here. No point both us getting soaked.'

River nodded, moving further back into the shuttle, for once taking the order and being thankful for it. Now that she was here, doing the job, the uneasy feeling she had had was dissipating. They had half the credits, she couldn't read any bad feelings from Tom: he seemed genuinely happy just to have the cargo again. All in all, it was probably one of the easiest jobs she'd been involved in. Shame, really.

She watched from the shelter of the shuttle as the cargo was loaded into a mule that couldn't have been that far away, but still wasn't visible through the blanket of rain. Finally Jayne came back in, closing the door behind him, a bag of happy sounding money clutched in his hand. 'Let's get off before we get swept away.' He said, plonking the money on the dash in front of him. River admired it with him for a second, before starting up the shuttle. She'd grown up with money, had never wanted for anything, but doing something to earn it, being involved in the job made even the small amount she received all that much sweeter for it.

The shuttle lifted away from the concrete, immediately buffeted by the strong winds whipping around it as it climbed steadily to about two thousand feet. 'Don't believe it, but storm's worse.' Jayne said. He'd taken a rag off the shelf behind him, was trying to dry his hair which was dripping relentlessly down his back.

They were just settling into course, about twenty minutes into the flight when a small, definitely out of place, grinding noise behind him made Jayne pause and look, seeing nothing out of place. He looked back at River, seeing a concerned look on her face, as she pulled against the console. He was about to ask what was wrong when a loud bang echoed around them, instantly filling the small shuttle with choking smoke, making the shuttle buck violently. Jayne was thrown sideways into the wall, before being thrown to the floor by another violent twist of the shuttle. 'Gorram piece of shit metal.' Jayne growled, and then coughed as the smoke filled his lungs.

River was still in her seat, how he wasn't sure, coughing as well but fighting with the controls to keep her steady. 'Can't hold it.' Jayne heard her say quietly, her voice eerily calm compared to the adrenaline racing through his own system. The shuttle reared again, Jayne stable on all fours on the floor but River being thrown hard into the console, struggling to right herself before being thrown again.

Jayne could see the struggle River was having to keep the shuttle from nose diving to the ground, and crawled over to her. 'Hit the red switch.' River told him, pointing with her nose to her left.

Jayne didn't ask, just hit it, feeling a grinding beneath him as the landing gear once again came out.

'Hold tight.' River instructed. Jayne definitely didn't need to be told that twice, already having a steady hand on the shuttle. The shuttle was groaning with the strain now, the relentless wind still buffeting them outsides, the loss of at least one of the engines and most of the power in the shuttle meaning it was being tossed around harder and harder, swinging left and right, bucking up and down, River sitting in the middle of it all, struggling to get the shuttle down to the ground slow enough that there might still be something left to crawl out of when they did land.

The smoke didn't help, filling the shuttle making both of them cough relentlessly. Jayne wondered if, even if they did land, would the shuttle explode anyway.

'Hold on.' The exertion was evident in River's voice this time, panic creeping in. Jayne didn't think, he leapt up and over her, holding her steady against the console, shielding her body with his as they landed none too lightly, the dreadful sound of metal against metal screeching loudly as the shuttle scraped against hard ground, the windscreen shattering with the pressure, showering them both in glass and they were both thrown around.

An unnatural silence filled the shuttle, almost blissful after the horror of the crash. Until River began coughing violently under him. Jayne rolled off her, realising that the chair she had been sitting on was now flat on the floor, most of the front of the shuttle completely smashed from impact with the ground. It seemed the hardening rain had had one positive- the fire in the engine was doused pretty quickly. For a moment both of them just lay, among the twisted metal and glass, trying to catch their breath between the coughing, feeling all kinds of sore by the battering they'd just taken.

'You'll right?' Jayne finally asked, turning his head to look at her. He could see cuts and bruises, but nothing bleeding too much. He guessed he looked pretty much the same.

River nodded, turning her head to look at him. 'Yes. Thank you.' She said, before coughing again.

'That was some flying.' Jayne said, finally working up the energy to sit up, wanting to groan at the muscles being pulled. He felt like he'd been in a fist fight, and not come out on top. 'Think you need to work on your landing though.' River sat up next to him, wanting to give him a look but having to groan instead at the pull on her muscles. 'Well, if this ain't all manner of shiny.' Jayne added sarcastically. 'Think Mal'll be mad?'

'About to get worse.' River said, her voice sounding shaky, her eyes looking at him, through him, unseeing.

Jayne wanted to groan but instead reached forward, snagging her arm, pulling her look back to him. 'What?' he asked.

'Saw a ship. Saw a ship and thought cargo. Saw a ship crash. Gonna search the wreckage. Want the money.'

'Oh they do, do they?' Jayne all but growled. 'How many?'

'…six. Six men. Six guns. Don't want survivors.'

'We need a plan.' Jayne said, trying desperately to think. It was obvious the shuttle wasn't going nowhere, perhaps ever again. And they weren't in much of a condition to fight six armed men. 'We need a plan. Gorram it, you're the ruttin' genius, you think of a ruttin' plan.' He finally snapped at River.

River gave him a dumb look. 'You have weapons.' She pointed out.

Jayne wanted to smack himself on the forehead, but thought it'd be wasted energy. He rummaged through the twisted metal, finally finding the gun he had brought with him. He looked at River. 'Didn't bring a spare.' River said before he could.

Jayne shook his head. 'Got a knife.' He offered, whipping it out of its holder and handing it to her.

River admired it for a brief moment, before looking up. 'Thank you.' She said.

'What now?'

Instead of answering River gracefully rose to her feet. Suddenly, it was hard to believe that she had been in a crash at all, excepting for all the cuts. Her look was hard as steel, her posture upright and sure. He got what she meant, and clambered to his feet. They didn't have a choice. However tired and sore they were from being thrown around the shuttle, they now had to fight or they were dead. Seemed kind of sad to land a broken shuttle safely to then die at the hands of some would be salvage wreckers. At least he got to see Crazy fight, Jayne thought. Always a pleasure. River looked over at him at that thought, a twisted smile on her face at the compliment.

River cocked her head to the side, and Jayne knew she was listening over the groaning of the settling shuttle to the men. She looked at him, holding out her hand. She gestured to herself, motioning the door, then at him, pointing to the gun. He got what she meant and stayed silent like her. She would go out first, he would provide cover fire. He didn't know if it was a good plan. Hell, he didn't even know if it counted as a plan. But as it was about the only option that both of them would agree on, he followed her lead.

The back end of the shuttle had come off fairly lightly compared to the front, and the shuttle door was still intact if a little bent. He stood on the opposite side of the door, watching as River did a countdown with her fingers. When she got to one he kicked open the door, having to put a lot of effort in to force the bent metal outwards against the buckled hull.

Standing right outside was a small, nasty looking man, water dripping off his bald head, obviously not expecting the door to spring open in front of him. River kicked high, catching the gun he was holding and forcing it back. Her second kick caught him in the face, right around the nose, and he went down like a sack of bricks. Then she was gone, out the door, Jayne covering as she'd instructed, shooting one man dead to the left as River went for one on the right. Once again he was absolutely soaked as soon as he left the cover of the shuttle.

The men hadn't been expecting a fight that was certain. Later, when Jayne got a proper look at the shuttle, he wouldn't blame them, either. The fight was short, which was a blessing in itself as Jayne threw one sucker punch into a tall man, he could feel the groan of overworked muscles protesting. River did a lot more of the fighting- Jayne didn't watch her as much as he wanted to, concentrated on shooting straight and mean in the driving rain and relentless wind. He could hear the sound of bones crack even above the rain, and just had to hope that they weren't River's.

Jayne ran out of bullets before the last man was down, flinging the gun instead at the man in front of him, catching him in the chest and forcing him back. He followed the gun with his fist, catching the man around the face. He took a punch, letting the man get close before pushing his foot almost through the other man's gut. He went down, the wind knocked out of him, and Jayne finished it with a wicked hard punch through the head, knocking him out cold, the rain already diluting the blood rushing from a head wound.

He looked around for River, watched as she round housed the last man in the solar plexus, spinning around and using her other foot to kick the man around the head, dropping him instantly. She was breathing heavier, coughing again now that she was finished, but she didn't seem any the worse for wear. She was soaked through by the rain, her flimsy dress sticking to skin where it was wet, the pink waterproof she had on not doing a very good job, her hair hanging in rat's tails. She looked up under his gaze, smiling unconsciously as the adrenaline coursed through her. She swiped a hand through her hair, getting the wet mess out of her face before she turned to look at the shuttle.

It was sobering, seeing it for the first time from the outside, and for a moment, both of them just stood and stared. Jayne moved first, walking towards it. 'Ya reckon anything's of use?' He asked, walking in the door he'd busted open.

River followed him, wrinkling her nose at the smell of burnt out electrical wire. 'Maybe the comm.?' She asked, hopeful more than certain.

Jayne walked towards the unit on the console. He didn't know much, but he was guessing the amount it was scorched wasn't good. River moved around him and began pulling out wires. 'Ain't gonna work.' Jayne commented, beginning to search for the money. He couldn't believe it had taken him that long to think of it.

'Not now, but it might be fixed. It's here.' She added, digging a little under the console and handing him the bag of money. The bag of clinking coins didn't sound so happy now.

'Ah, good.' He looked around the shuttle, realising there really wasn't anything else left that was of use. It felt safer in the wrecked shuttle, warmer out of the rain and wind, but Jayne knew they were in the middle of nowhere, with no chance of rescue and they had to move. River stood watching him, waiting for him to come to the decision she'd reached almost as soon as she had seen the shuttle. Finally he sighed. 'Let's get outta here. Need to find somewhere and contact Mal.'

They were walking away, heads down against the unrelenting wind and rain when an explosion behind them drove them both to the ground. The heat was intensive even through the storm, the wind whipping up the smell of melting metal and fried electrics, tossing the ashes through the air. From their position on the soaking ground, they looked at each other, before looking over their shoulders in disbelief at the now burning and charred wreckage of the shuttle.

'Wuo de ma.' Jayne murmured, too shocked to put much emphasis on the words.

'I think now Captain might be mad.' River answered Jayne's earlier question.

(thank you for continuing to read- reviews are always welcomed)


	5. Chapter 5

(A.N- I just realised I never did the standard disclaimer- although I guess you're reading this because you're a fan of the show, and know it doesn't belong to me.

A.N 2 Thank you for the reviews- I love reading them. Will always appreciate more- hint hint!)

Chapter 5

As River predicted, Mal was mad. However, as he wasn't aware that one of his shuttles had just exploded, it had more to do with his missing crew. 'Where the hell are they?' He asked no one in particular as he flicked through switches again, trying to wave the shuttle on any frequency he could.

'Maybe they got caught by the rain.' Zoë suggested from her place in the co-pilot seat. 'Local news says it's the worst rain fall they've had in a decade.'

'They could at least call! I don't like it.'

Simon stood behind them, glancing anxiously through the window, trying to see beyond the sheet of grey rain. 'Do you think something's happened?' He asked.

Mal spared a glance behind him, taking in Simon stood stock still, his face perfectly blank. 'Don't know.' He finally said. 'But something's not right. Even if they're caught in the storm they should have reported in.'

'Why don't you try Tom? Maybe he can help.' Zoe suggested.

Kaylee came onto the bridge as Mal was trying to get Tom on the cortex. 'Ain't no flying in this.' She commented, standing beside Simon and slipping a hand into his. 'They probably just took shelter somewhere to wait it out.' Her voice sounded ever hopeful, and Simon loved her for it, even if he didn't acknowledge her, waiting anxiously through the quiet conversation Mal was having.

'Well they made the pick-up alright. Tom's mighty pleased with the cargo. Said they took off well over an hour ago.'

'Then where the hell are they then?' Simon exploded, not liking the lack of answers, hating not knowing where his sister was.

Mal swung his chair around, and his face told more of a story than his words. 'I don't know.'

'Well let's go and find them!' Simon exclaimed. 'We can't just sit here. Why are we just sitting here?'

Mal got to his feet, having no answer that Simon wanted to hear. Simon caught him as he tried to exit, holding him with an open palm against his shoulder. 'Why aren't we going to find them?' He demanded.

'Because we can't.' Mal said, ignoring the hand because he knew Simon was anxious for his sister. He was as well.

'Why the hell not?'

'Because you see those lovely flashes of lightening out there? We get hit by one of them while we're up in the air we'll be down and out before we even start. I ain't enough of a pilot to get us through a storm like this.'

'Then what do we do?'

Mal shrugged off Simon's hold easily enough. 'We wait.' He said simply as he walked past.

They'd been walking for what felt like an eternity, the rain and wind relentless, and now what little light pushing through the grey was failing. They were both achy from the crash and having to fight, both tired now that the adrenaline rush had waned. They were heading towards the town near where the exchange was made, sure that there would be a cortex to communicate from. It was hard going- even without the bad weather the terrain wasn't easy to walk over.

Jayne looked over at River. They'd walked in silence, near enough, only talking for River to correct the course they were walking. The relentless wind and rain make conversation impossible. Jayne couldn't help but think that she looked like a drowned rat. Her hair was plastered to her head, the rain coat she had on not enough to stop her clothes from getting soaked through and sticking to her in places that Jayne knew he probably shouldn't be looking.

'You can look.' River commented mid thought; Jayne had to strain to hear her over the wind, 'just can't touch.' She added with a smile that Jayne could only describe as having a flirtatious edge.

He had to swallow, hard, to keep from developing that thought. 'Where are we?' He asked instead.

'Bout ten minutes from town.'

'Can't believe this much rain can fall at one time.' Jayne commented gesturing out at the driving rain.

He heard River mumble something that the wind throws away, about precipitation and air temperature, which he didn't understand. Not that surprising really. He was just glad that the terrain got easier the closer to town, and they even found something almost resembling a road.

'She'll be ok, Simon.' Kaylee followed Simon into the infirmary, watching as he leant against the counter, the tension obvious in his shoulders.

Simon laughed, and the sound made Kaylee feel cold inside, sounded so hollow to her ears. 'I was so angry at her.'

'You were upset.' Kaylee argued.

'I was so angry and she felt it all! Felt everything. How did I forget that?'

'Simon, she knows why you were angry with her, I'm sure.'

'I yell at her, moments before she goes on a run. How stupid am I? What if that's the last thing I get to say to her? That I'm disappointed because she wasn't taking some medicine.'

'It's not going to be the last thing you say to her!' Kaylee said, standing closer to him, rubbing gentle circles over his back in comfort. 'They'll be back. They probably just got caught in the storm and are having to wait it out. At least Jayne's with her.'

'Yeah, that's a comfort.'

'It should be.' Kaylee argued. 'If anyone can survive, Jayne will. And he will protect her.'

Simon was about to argue when he realised that Kaylee has a point. Jayne wasn't the same man that had turned River into the feds. Since Miranda, they had all changed. He'd even seen his sister and the big merc have a conversation or three, usually up on the bridge whilst River was piloting or down in the hold whilst they worked out. He didn't know what they talked about, and in all honesty didn't want to know. All he had to hope on now was that they were together, and they could keep safe together. He wasn't sure if that was too much to ask.

Raking Town was not a big town- a few streets of cobbled together houses made up the suburbs before they got to a street of shops and bars. Jayne looked around, confused. The town was completely deserted. 'Guess the weather's keeping them all in.'

River looked around too, the silence of the town disquieting, a yellow haze filtering her mind, a funny crawling sensation settled into the pit of her stomach. 'Fear.' She said, naming the feeling aloud. It was a very familiar sensation.

Jayne looked over at her- she was looking all around turning in circles on the spot looking fearful herself.

'Everyone locked inside, waiting. Just waiting. What are they waiting for?'

'Sane, more like. Rather be inside than in this gorram rain.'

River was still looking around, and Jayne wasn't even sure she had heard him. 'Come on, there's no one here, let's move on.' Jayne commanded, walking off, expecting her to follow which she did, eventually. It took only a few more minutes and Jayne found himself on the edge of town again. 'Huh.' He said, looking forward and back. 'That it?'

River's answer was interrupted by the sound of a scream. They both looked forward, in the direction of the scream. Before either of them said anything, there was another, muffled cry, interrupted by a cry from River. 'Run! Quick, run!'

At one time, a command like that from crazy girl wouldn't have moved him one inch. Now Jayne only needed a half look at her face before he was running back in the direction of main street, River right at his heels.

Jayne looked back as they ran, finding himself facing a wall of water bearing quickly down on them. 'Oh shit.' Was all that left his mouth as he pumped his legs harder. It was no good though; there was no way they were out running the water. The best Jayne could guess some river or lake or something had bust its bank with all the rain. Water started to lap at their feet and he had to grab River by the arm as she almost went over. 'Keep running!' He commanded, pushing her in a forward motion till she was steady again.

'Can't! Too much.' River cried as the water quickly got to her knees, making it hard to lift her feet, to move forward.

'Keep moving!' Was the only answer she got, Jayne's hand painfully gripping her upper arm, still pulling at her in the opposite direction to the pull of the water on her legs. The water was too much, though, up to her thighs now, her legs no longer able to carry her forward. She went down, hard, ripped out of Jayne's strong hold, head under the cold water as she was pulled under with the torrent.

For a long moment, everything stopped. The water completely enveloped her, stopping everything- the wind, the rain, the shouts, both out loud and in her head of the people in the town about to be swept away. She was surrounded by cold, the water holding her, and panic inundating her as fast as the water making its way through town. She had never been a fan of water. Never learnt to swim. Whilst Simon would take every opportunity to use the pool at their parent's house River was content to sit and watch, critical of his stroke, but never touching the water herself. She didn't know why. Not even her brother, gently coaxing, bullying, laughing at her could get her in the pool. She never liked baths, always showering as soon as she got a choice. Even as a baby, Simon had told her in the past, she didn't like being bathed, would scream whenever the nanny tried. Then she'd arrived at the academy, been trained to deal with all hostile situations, including submersion.

And now she was completely surrounded by the cold murky water, and her heart was beating erratically, and she was trying to hold her breath, and even though it had been less than a minute and she could hold her breath for over five, the panic wanted her to pull in a breath, fought her at it, and she was so cold, and the water was everywhere, holding her down, and she couldn't find her way back up, and she just didn't want to be in the water.

Jayne had mass on his side but even that wasn't enough to keep him on his feet when the water swept through. The water was cold, dirty; instantly finding any dry spot that the waterproofs had managed to preserve. For a moment Jayne had no choice but to let the water carry him forward, just trying to get a little air between the many times he was pulled under, hoping against hope that River was able to swim.

His eyes open, for a moment all he could see was grey and murky but suddenly he realised there was sky above him, still grey and murky but that was definitely the wind blowing on his face, and gorram, if that wasn't a tree he was riding right past. He grabbed it on instinct, feeling like his shoulder was being ripped right out of its socket with the force of the water trying to rip him away. He grunted with the effort before he finally got a good hold on the tree, just in time to make a grab at a floating body with a lot of hair that looked remarkably like Crazy. He felt the wrench in his other shoulder now, as the water tried to carry her away, but he held on tight enough to leave bruises.

He wrenched her closer, bringing her to his chest to make it easier to hold her, letting out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding when River started coughing up water.

'Crazy- the tree!' he yelled at her, trying to galvanise her into action, unsure how long he could anchor both of them. But River was limp in his arm, breathing, coughing, but not moving. He shook her, trying to get a response. 'Grab the tree!' He yelled again, loudly, glad beyond measure when he felt River finally move against him, reaching out and grabbing the branch herself, scrabbling to get a hold as the relentless water tried to take her again, fighting now, not wanting to go back under. 'Hold on!' Jayne yelled at her.

'Jayne!' River cried, her voice sounded terrified and as what might have once been a house washed past them, barely missing them Jayne couldn't blame her. They both struggled with effort as between them they managed to haul themselves into the tree. For a moment neither of them moved from where they were slung over a branch, as the water roared under them, building up pace, and the rain still fell. Jayne counted four horses, a shuttle, another house and even a teddy bear thunder under them at a relentless pace.

'Oh God!' He looked over at River. She was staring relentlessly down at the water. 'There are people in there.' One arm was out, dangling helplessly down as if to rescue them.

'Nothing you can do for them.' Jayne said, rolling onto his back and sitting up. He shuffled back into the tree, till his back was against the trunk and he could feel almost stable. He was freezing cold, but at least the tree sheltered them some from the wind. He looked over at River, who was still hung over a branch on her belly, staring into the water. 'Come on Crazy.' He said, poking her with his boot. She didn't move. 'Crazy?' He said. She still didn't move. 'River?' He tried. She looked up at him, her look pale, frightened. She was shivering violently with the cold. 'Get here.' He commanded. 'Now is the time to fix the speaker thing.' Part of him was hoping that giving her a task would take her mind off what else was flowing underneath them.

It took a while, but she eventually scooted up the tree closer to him, sitting straddling the branches facing him, the comm. unit they had rescued from the shuttle in front of her. It was wet and battered, not looking like it was going to do much communicating anytime soon. River ran her fingers over it, almost reverently, before she gently removed the outer casing.

Inside was as dry as the waterproof shell had advertised. Maybe there was a chance, River thought as her mind quickly ran through and catalogued all that she could see. A shudder ran through her as an older man flowed past below them, his mind screaming as his lungs filled with the fluid, drowning in the icy water and River was reliving it all again, being held down by the water, unable to breathe but wanting to so badly because then maybe she could scream. Jayne nudged her in the shoulder, none to softly. 'Concentrate. Can't save anyone down there.' He said, and River was surprised out of her fear by the resentment he felt at that fact.

Mal ran back into the open cargo hold, shaking off the wet waterproofs and taking the towel that Zoë was holding out to him gratefully. 'Never seen rain like it.' He commented, not for the first time. 'Never.'

'Are we stable?' Zoë asked as she shut the door, stopping the cutting wind from flowing through the ship.

'Yeah.' Mal said, rubbing at his dripping face and hair with the towel. 'We're stable for now. There's water flowing in the valley below but it's got aways before it reaches here. Hopefully the rain will stop before then.'

'Don't know how she did it- got us perched here.' Zoë commented. River had them perched on a wall of rock that was almost completely inaccessible without the aid of a hover-mule at least. They had a little shelter from the wind, although the driving rain still hammered loudly on the metal hull. 'You think they're ok?'

Mal looked at her. He never lied to Zoë, ever, but he wanted to now. 'I don't know.' He said honestly.

'If they were in the shuttle, they would have answered the comm..' Zoë said, echoing his thoughts.

'Yeah.'

'Can't be good, out in this rain.'

'They might be in town. Got some shelter there.'

Zoë gave him a look. 'You saw the town, sir. Not exactly made of bricks and mortar most of it.'

'Knowing Jayne, he probably found the only bar in town with a decent roof and is well on his way to getting drunk as a skunk.' Mal didn't meet Zoë's look, though, as hopeful as he wanted to sound. Because deep down, something unpleasant gnawed at his gut, and it felt a lot like the look on River's face when she predicted that the job would go wrong.

River's hands were freezing cold, and she was shivering so much that holding the small wires was a chore in itself. She knew how the comm. system worked on the ship, had used it to her advantage when Early had boarded them, but this was something different. She needed a radio transmitter, one she could tune into Serenity's frequency and hopefully hail them. She stiffened as another body washed past under them, her mind suddenly filled with pain, screaming silently within her. Pain from many injuries, pain from the certainty of death, of never seeing children again, of never being able to set right many wrongs, of never being able to say goodbye because all the woman wanted to do was be able to say goodbye just one last time, without the anger of last time.

'Ok, so that's the speaker wire.'

River shook her head, even with the screaming in her head being able to tell that what Jayne was pointing at wasn't anything to do with the speaker. She unconsciously pointed to another wire, her hand shaking from the fading screaming, from the shivers that still wracked her body. 'That's the speaker wire.' She said.

Jayne knew he didn't have her full attention yet, that her mind was still connected to someone that had flowed past under them. He had been watching her because there wasn't exactly anything else to do, and had seen her stiffen, look down at the flowing water. 'So that's the power source.' He said pointing to another random wire, not being able to tell one wire from the other but wanting to get River's attention onto something that wouldn't drain what little colour she had left as quickly as it just did, to stop the shaking fear that wracked her. The shivering was bad enough.

River shook her head again. 'That's the transmitter. Look,' she instructed, pointing with her finger, 'it should attach here to the power source, but the wire is dislodged.' She said. Now that he was looking, Jayne could see the end of a wire that looked frayed. 'Now I just have to figure out how to attach it again without a soldering iron.' River was lost again, but this time in the wire conundrum before her, rather than the bodies floating beneath her. Jayne listened to her talk, looking where she instructed, nodding when it seemed appropriate, not understanding much beyond the "thes" and the "ands". But it kept her busy, even as the shivering gradually worsened, and her words occasionally slurred together and the rain fell in a never ending sheet of water.

'Mal.' Soft as Inara's voice was, he still jumped slightly. He hadn't heard her stepping up to the bridge, absorbed as he was in the lightening show out of the window.

'Yeah?' He said, swinging his seat round to see her, taking a sip of the cooling coffee from the mug he held.

'It's getting dark.' Inara said.

Mal turned slowly back to the window, and Inara was sure that he was about to dismiss her, but instead his shoulders slumped. 'I know.'

Inara stepped further into the bridge, sitting in the seat closest to the door. She had noticed right away that Mal wasn't sitting in the pilot's seat, and thought it right for her not to either.

'How cold do you think it is?' She finally asked, wanting to talk through the possibilities with someone because thinking about them on her own was getting too much.

'…cold.' Mal finally answered her, glancing at her. He was aware of the temperature. Of the effects on the body of cold and wet. Of the even worst effects that wind can add, and he can hear the wind howling around them. That if they aren't still with the shuttle, or at least found shelter that the time they have left could probably be calculated in hours rather than days. He hated sitting here, unable to do anything. He had considered taking Inara's shuttle, but knew he probably wouldn't make it in the rain. He'd considered the mule, but he and Zoë had enough problems baling it out earlier to keep it flying. He didn't like just sitting there, but he knew that it wouldn't help any for more of them to go out in this storm. 'Too cold, maybe.' He finally said, just to have the words said aloud.

Inara didn't say anything, and Mal knew he'd just confirmed her own thoughts.

'Where's the doc?' he asked.

'In the mess. Kaylee's with him. They're making dinner.'

Mal looked round at her properly, eyebrows raised in surprise.

'Still got to eat.' Inara reminded him.

'Didn't think doc would be up for that.' Mal commented.

'I think he's just trying to stay busy. Are you coming down?'

Mal shook his head. 'Want to stay close to the comm. You know, in case they try and wave.'

Inara nodded. She hadn't thought for a second that he would come to the mess.

'You know, I thought the meet would go bad.' Mal said into the silence when Inara didn't leave straight away. Inara looked at him, unsure where he was going with this. 'Was so concerned about it.' Seeing Inara's confused look, he explained 'River had a bad feeling about the exchange.'

'She told you it would go bad?' Inara asked. It wouldn't be the first time River had got a premonition about one of the jobs they were going on.

'Not in so many words. Couldn't sleep, felt funky, she said. Bad feelings.'

'That's not very specific.' Inara commented quietly.

'I know. But after everything? Well- I changed the plan. What else could I do? Still had to get paid, so I split the cargo, tried to make it as fail safe as possible. And now this.'

'You can't control everything.' Inara pointed out. 'Can't plan for every eventuality. River had a bad feeling. Maybe she unknowingly picked it up from one of us. She picks up all our other emotions. She can't not.'

'I know.' Mal said, sounding resigned. 'Just never thought something would go so wrong after the exchange. We've been paid- we should be on our way to Persephone to thumb our noses at Badger.'

Inara smiled at the last image before growing serious. 'River's done some amazing things, predicted some major things. But she's still new at having any sort of control at what she picks up.'

'I know. That's why I didn't stop the exchange completely.' Mal said, sounding bitter. 'How she functions at all is beyond me.' He added with a sigh.

'I think it would be beyond most people.'

They both grew silent again, staring out the window at the growing darkness, both of them thinking on River and Jayne before Inara slipped quietly away.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N: thank you for all the reviews- they are all appreciated. 1, Thought I'd got all the changes between past and present tense, but sorry for the ones I missed (never try to read a story in the present when you're writing one in the past!) thanks again- I appreciate the constructive criticism and being able to improve my story. Anyway, on with the chapter…

Chapter 6

River felt like crying in frustration. Her hands were so numb, she could barely hold on to the wires to put them together. The shivering didn't help, wracking her body in waves. She was so cold, she wondered if her insides were growing icicles. Every movement felt like it took forever; even her head had slowed down. The usual chaos of thoughts and feelings had almost come to a halt.

She could still read Jayne, though, sat barely two foot away from her, watching intently, just wanting some way to contact Serenity. He didn't just hope that she would do it. He believed that she would do it. Believed that the genius would be able to fix the comm. for use. She felt bad that she was going to fail him, frustrated with herself for not being able to do even the simplest of tasks. But her whole body hurt, and she kept on shivering, and her hands were so painful to use, and now her brain just couldn't quite think enough to sort out the problem before her.

She picked up one wire, knowing that she could use it to power the radio she was trying to build, but her hands were so clumsy, she almost knocked the whole thing into the relentless rush of water below. 'Woah, watch it!' Jayne said, easily catching and righting the small box. 'Maybe you should take a break.' He said carefully, his tone gentle. It made River want to cry more.

'No! Need to contact Serenity. Light diminishing. Soon obscurity will make the task impossible.'

'River!' Jayne's voice sounded harsh although they were at odds with his gentle feelings. 'It's ok.'

'No! No it's not ok. Nothing's ok. We're stuck here, up a tree, and I have the means for communication but I'm so damn cold, and my fingers hurt and my head just doesn't seem to be working anymore.' River cried at him, giving in to the tears that threatened to fall, finding that even those were cold on her cheeks.

She was surprised when Jayne reached out for her, grasping her hands in his own cold ones. 'You can do this.' He said, rubbing her hands in his two large ones, sending off sparks of pain in the numb digits but at least getting some blood flow through them.

She wanted to curl up and sleep. She was so tired, and sore, but she let Jayne warm her hands for a moment, before pulling gently away. 'I can do this.' She repeated, sounding like she was trying to reassure herself more than Jayne. 'I can do this.'

Her concentration was again arrested a few moments later by Jayne's stomach growling, loudly. She couldn't help it, she had to laugh. 'Hungry?' She asked looking up at him.

'Would eat you if'n I thought you had any meat on you.'

'Ha ha.'

'Wouldn't even moan about protein right about now.'

'I just want a nice hot shower.' River said, her eyes closed, already picturing the steam swirling all around, feeling warm again.

'What I wouldn't give to see you in a nice hot shower.' Jayne agreed.

'Really? Rather than eat?' River asked, not surprised at Jayne's lecherous thoughts, but surprised that it would rank so high with food. She looked up at Jayne, feeling the soft whirlwind of thoughts surround her for a moment. 'You think on it.' She added with a smirk.

'Oh, I am.' Jayne told her, making her laugh and stick out her tongue.

'You just take your time.' She said. 'Got all day.'

'You know, you can be a real smart arse.' He said.

She looked up at him, head cocked as if carefully considering his words. 'I am smart.' She said, 'however, I don't see that it has anything to do with my arse.' Looking up at him with a wicked grin before almost losing her balance on the branch she was straddled on and tipping sideways.

'Careful!' Jayne shouted, catching her on reflex. 'Maybe you should sit closer in.' He said, not giving her a choice as he carefully placed the box out of harm's way and pulled her closer in. There wasn't a lot of room at the trunk of the tree. Jayne had wedged himself on where the trunk met the branch, which left about a foot of wider branch to the left of him where she could sit and brace herself better against the trunk. He didn't want to chance her falling again, and kept a strong arm wrapped round her shoulders. It was a small comfort that River was appreciative of against the bitter wind and prevailing cold. He had to smile as River went right back to the box of wires, talking about it as if he understood any of the words falling from her mouth.

-x-

'Would love to know what your brother would say if he could see us now.' Jayne said when River finally paused for breath.

Jayne had been watching River, and didn't miss the dark shadow that briefly seemed to fill her eyes. 'I'm sure that he would swear quite creatively at you.' River finally said.

'Really?...Doc?...Swear?' Jayne checked, incredulous, only partly mocking.

'He is a doctor. He has heard every swear word under the sun. And uses them when he feels it is appropriate.'

'Huh- that could be fun to watch.'

'I don't like Simon angry.' River commented, for the first time alluding to what happened that morning.

'Nah, don't suppose you do.' Jayne said. 'He sure was angry this morning.'

'He doesn't like to feel powerless.' River commented quietly.

'Because you weren't taking some stupid tablets?'

'No, because he didn't know that I hadn't been taking them for some time. The medicines are control for him.' River looked over at Jayne, saw his confused look, and carried on. 'Simon is first and foremost my brother, but he's also a doctor. He saved me, from the academy and I was broken.'

'I remember.' Jayne said, sardonically.

River looked at him with a small, quick smile. 'But ever since Miranda, I have started to help myself more. Miranda was my healer. For Simon it was a reminder of everything that had been done to me in…that place, a reminder of everything that wasn't right about me. He fears me. You all do.'

'I don't.'

'All of you do.' River corrected matter of factly. 'You all saw the tablets on the table, knew that I had been un-medicated for some time, and you all immediately felt scared of me.'

'I'm sitting here now aren't I?' Jayne said, feeling uncomfortable at the tone in River's voice.

'You fear me, but you also see me- you understand me more than the others. You can see a part of yourself in me. None of the others, not even Mal and Zoë can.' It wasn't the first time they'd talked about the episode on Mr Universe's moon. There had been quite a few nights when Serenity was out in the black when they'd talked about the fight, about the Reavers, how River had killed so many and come out alive. Jayne liked to hear about it, liked to offer his suggestions on the fight. The talking about the fight had even occasionally led back to how River was able to fight, about the training she had undergone at the Academy. Whilst it wasn't River's favourite subject, sometimes she could talk purely about the academic side and not be reminded of the harsher aspects of her treatment there.

'So your brother was mad because you were trying to fix yourself? Seems kinda dumb to me.'

'He doesn't understand what they did to me. All he can see is my fractured brain, and the only thing he can do to make it even slightly better is to keep giving me the drugs.'

'Why didn't you tell him you didn't want them?'

'Tried. Tried to tell him. But wouldn't listen, wouldn't understand. And everyone else fears me becoming psychotic again that they wouldn't listen either.'

'Don't the drugs help?'

'Not helping me fix myself.'

'You can do that?'

'No.' River answered honestly, knowing Jayne was referring to her being sane. 'But I am better.'

Jayne thought on that for a moment. It didn't take him long to realise it was true. 'But you still feel…everything?'

'Yes.'

'So when you walk away from…Mal shouting' Jayne said as an example.

'It's easier than trying to absorb all the emotions.'

'Where do you go?'

'To nothing.'

'Nothing?'

'Look out at the black. Imagine myself out there. Nothing.'

'Oh. Mal is loud when he shouts.'

'Very. But captain's shouts are all a façade. They are easy to penetrate to the quietness beyond. Harder when everyone is there. When you are disagreeing with the captain, and when Zoë is indecisive, and Simon is wanting to disagree but doesn't want to agree with you and is also watching Kaylee for signs of who she supports, and Kaylee's voice is all wounded puppy and Inara is trying hard to maintain her poise but she doesn't agree with the Captain, but she doesn't want to disagree with him in front of people and she doesn't want to fight with him anymore. It all becomes too much.'

'Yeah, guess it would. That's all going on at the same time?'

'Yes. Was harder before. Now I can recognise everyone, and most of the time it is background noise that is just there. Only sometimes that they jump out at me, confuse me. Harder with people I don't know, can't recognise.'

'And the drugs don't help you do it?'

'No, they make it harder to differentiate.'

'differ what?'

'Can't identify everyone.'

'I think you need to tell Doc that when we get home.'

'He won't listen.'

'Then we'll tell everyone.' Jayne told her, completely missing the fact that he had included himself in that statement. River went quiet, a small smile on her face. She hadn't.

-x-

'Jayne?' Jayne looked down at the small women tucked under his arm. The light was so bad now, he didn't know how she could still see the wires her fingers were still digging around with. He grunted in response.

'If I die'

He interrupted quickly. 'You're not going to die!'

'If I die' River started again.

Again Jayne interrupted her. 'I done just told you you're not to die. Not today, not anytime soon. Specially not when you're alone with me.'

'I'd regret that I haven't kissed anyone.' She finished as if he hadn't even said anything.

Jayne stared down at her incredulous. 'You never kissed no one?'

'No. Personal relationships were discouraged at the academy. And then I was crazy.' She said matter of factly.

'You're still crazy.' Jayne corrected.

River carried on as if he hadn't spoken. 'And now I live on a space ship. Jayne.' She started imploringly, only to again be interrupted.

'No.'

'Please?'

'No.'

'But what if I die?' River asked.

Jayne had to fight to ignore the way her bottom lip stuck out. 'Already done told you- you're not to die.'

'Just a little one. Really short' River asked, pleadingly.

'I'm gonna ignore this whole talk.' Jayne told her.

River tried another tact. 'You wouldn't want me to die without once being kissed would you?'

'I'm not gonna kiss you. Cause when you live, and we get back to the ship, and you tell Mal or your brother what I did, I'd get spaced instead.'

'Wouldn't tell them!' River said, sounding shocked that Jayne would even think that she would. He wasn't sure that he shouldn't be insulted by that.

'Still not gonna kiss you.'

'Please? Just a little one.' River needled.

'No.'

'Please?'

'No.'

'Please?'

'I'm gonna push you outta this gorram tree in a minute you don't shut up.'

River was silent for exactly sixty-one seconds. 'Will you tell me about sex instead then please?'

-x-

'Don't like water…Transmitter wire too short to connect to the power source… Can't swim… Have to reroute through the vector… Simon used to laugh… Used the transistor to amplify mike, but too much will blow circuit… eighteen and never been kissed…Captain will be mad about the shuttle… Got to get the oscillator connected to R5… Should have brought an umbrella… Didn't understand that water was scary to behold… Two oscillators would be better, more stable… Frustrated that wouldn't take the medications… The tuner is unreliable… Frustrated that wouldn't swim, but would correct his stroke…'

The persistent ramblings pouring from her mouth woke Jayne. He couldn't work out why at first, she'd been talking non-stop for a while before he must have dropped off. The sound of her voice had been rather too comforting, and as restricted as his movement was, and as cold as he was, and as numb as his hands and feet were, he had still managed to let his eyes close and fall asleep.

He looked over at River, his arm still tight around her even though she was fairly well wedged in place. He was alarmed that her lips seemed to be turning a rather disturbing shade of blue now, but he knew that wasn't what woke him. It was her voice. Earlier, when he'd been listening to her she'd been purely talking about the radio, constructing it from the workings of the comm. Now the talk was interspersed with other sentences, about her brother, and the captain, and Jayne couldn't follow all of it at the rate she was talking, her tone rushed, as if she had to get as many words out as possible in the shortest amount of time.

-x-

She was rambling. She was well aware that she was rambling. The thoughts were just spilling out of her mouth with little process between thinking and saying but she couldn't stop them, couldn't process enough to stop them coming out. The water was still running fast under them, and the wind still howled loudly, making her ears ache.

She didn't stop even when she realised that Jayne was awake again, and was looking over at her, a worried expression on his face. Because the words felt like they were all that was keeping her here, and she didn't want to find out what happened when they stopped.

The thoughts seemed to be streaming out of her, and Jayne had to wonder if she was even aware that she was talking out loud. The words were tumbling so quick he could barely keep up. The thoughts were confused, the words increasingly slurred, running together at times.

He was startled when she suddenly stopped and looked straight at him, the small box held up in her hands as if she was presenting him with a gift. Which, now that she was silent and he could hear the faint sound of static above the wind and rain it felt like the most precious gift she could give him. 'You did it!' He exclaimed loudly.

She didn't look so excited. 'Don't know frequency to use.' She said, sounding and looking miserable.

'We'll try them all then.'

'Too many to try. Too many variations. The probability of Serenity picking up our signal is-'

'I don't want to know.' He interrupted her. 'Don't know nothing about probabilities. You got it working, we can use it...how do we use it?' He added.

'Depress the black button on the side and talk.' She told him, laying her head down on his shoulder because now that the radio was finished to the best of her current abilities, she was feeling so tired.

'Hello?' Jayne said into the box, pushing the button as directed, trying it out. Static was his only answer. He tried a few more times, giving details of who and to the best of his knowledge where they were. He interrupted himself when he realised that River was about to fall asleep on him. 'Oh no you don't.'

'Want to sleep.' She moaned at him, not even opening her eyes.

'Can't sleep. Got to wait for the rescue.'

'Sleep till then. You did.' She accused.

'Yeah, I'm sorry, but you _can't sleep_.' He said, stressing the final two words. He didn't know why he was being so insistent, but she was shivering relentlessly and her lips were blue and he didn't think it was a good idea for her to sleep just now.

He alternated between the radio and keeping River awake and talking. He knew, deep down where he didn't like to acknowledge things that his actions were becoming useless. It was fully dark now, and he could barely see, but he carried on, speaking into the radio, keeping River talking, even as the inevitability of failure weighed heavily against him.

-x-

Dinner had been an almost silent affair, all of them walking through the motions of eating even though none of them were particularly hungry. Even Kaylee ate in silence. Zoë took a bowl of protein up to the Bridge for Mal but when she went back she found he'd barely touched it. She watched him for a moment, as he searched through the cortex for news, interspersed with trying to hail the shuttle still, even though the complete lack of response could only mean that the comm. in the shuttle had no power. Zoë took a seat, both of them leaving the pilot seat empty, sitting in a silence that only years of friendship could make comfortable waiting out the long night, for daybreak, and hopefully a hold on the rain.

-x-

Jayne had almost given up on keeping River awake. She was barely coherent, and uneducated as he might be, he knew that wasn't a good sign. She had little colour to her face, as white as someone not breathing anymore, except her lips. They were blue still. He didn't know if that was good or not. He was startled when he suddenly felt her very cold hand burrow under his t-shirt. It felt like a block of ice sitting on his stomach, and didn't help him feel any warmer. He looked over at River, seeing her eyes open still, staring straight ahead, no longer talking at all. He ignored the hand as much as he could, gripped her shoulder tighter instead. However, she seemed to take this as a sign, one of her legs clumsily moving to straddle his, what little strength left she seemed to use to literally climb onto his lap, facing him, burrowing down into him as if trying to bury herself.

'Hey!' Jayne protested, not only because he felt he should, but also because being this close to her reminded him of how cold she was. River didn't even look up at him, though, her eyes closed now where she had her head lying on his chest. 'you can't just climb on me!' Jayne told her indignantly, but she didn't respond at all.

He shook her sharply, not caring now that she was lying against his chest, wanting to get any reaction. She moaned slightly, burying deeper into him if that was possible. Whatever he did, though, he couldn't get her to open her eyes.

He didn't like the uncomfortable feeling in his chest. Didn't like caring this much about how, now that she was sprawled on his chest he was aware that she wasn't even shivering anymore or that her lips if possible seemed to be bluer. It was like he had little control over his arms as he slipped them around her, holding her close. He didn't like the feeling that Mal and the others might already be too late. That after everything that had happened today it might end like this, with River slowly falling and him being able to do absolutely nothing to stop her. That however hard he held her, it might never be hard enough to stop the fall.

-x-

It was a long night for all.

For the two people stuck up a tree, one holding the other tight thus she might fall.

For the captain of Serenity, with his second in command, sitting in silence, awake only through sheer desperation.

For a brother, trying to lose himself in the warm women next to him, trying to forget how cold it was outside, trying to forget the medical knowledge he has just for that night so that he might not think on what the cold is doing to his sister.

For a companion, alone in her shuttle, just trying to forget herself in the comfort of ritual.

All of them having to wait out the long stretch of night. All of them just waiting on the first sign of dawn. Having to trust that the hope the night stole from them all will be regained in the light of day.

Even the rain had finally fallen silent.

-x-


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mal was woken from the light doze he'd fallen into by the sharp shard of sunlight piercing through the window. He sat up with a groan, stretching out the kinks of a long night sat in a chair. At least it had stopped raining, he noticed. Didn't think he could take much more rain. He reached for the comm., quickly flicking through all the known channels, hailing his missing crew even though he knew that it was next to useless, unknowingly catching a switch with his arm that flipped the comm's frequency effectively upside down. He almost fell out of his chair when a familiar gruff voice interrupted the static from the speaker.

-x-

Jayne was slightly shocked that River was still breathing when the sunlight tickled his eyelids, waking him from a doze. He was still holding her tight, even in sleep fearful that she might fall. He was glad for the sun, for the arrival of day light, but the light was weak, little useful heat coming from it.

He picked up the radio again, as he had been doing all night. 'Hello? Look, if anyone can hear this we're stuck up a gorram tree in the middle of ruttin nowhere and why the hell am I still talking to this thing.'

'Jayne?'

Jayne wasn't quite sure how he didn't fall out of the tree when he heard a voice spurt from the box in his hands. '…Mal?' he said, not daring to hope, not daring to believe that the radio had actually worked.

-x-

'Yeah, Jayne it's me. Where the hell are you guys?' Mal asked, feeling Zoë cross to stand next to him, a hand resting briefly on his shoulder, as they shared a grin.

For a moment there was only static and Mal feared that the connection had been lost already, but then Jayne answered. 'Up a tree.'

'Up a tree?' Mal's voice told him how useful that bit of information was.

'Town's flooded. Pretty much everywhere's flooded.'

'Is River with you?' Mal asked, watching Zoë as she flipped switches, starting up Serenity without being told.

'Yeah, she's here.' Something in Jayne's voice didn't sit right.

'Is she ok?' Mal asked.

'Doc there?' Jayne asked instead of answering.

'Not yet.'

'She's not good Mal. So damn cold. Can't wake her up.'

'She still breathing?' Mal asked.

'Yeah.'

'Then we'll get to her.' Mal said with a certainty he hadn't felt five minutes ago. 'What happened?' he asked, hands on the controls, impatiently waiting for Serenity to warm up before he could take off.

'Shuttle crashed, bout 20 minutes after we took off after the drop. Walked back into town when something bust its bank and everything got flooded. Managed to catch a tree fore we got swept away.'

'So you're somewhere close to town?'

'…yeah?'

'Stay with me Jayne. We're flying out to you now. Is the water still high?'

'It stopped rising when it stopped raining. You gotta hurry, Mal.' He implored, and Mal could hear the desperation in Jayne's voice. It wasn't a comfortable sound.

'We're coming.'

Mal turned to Zoë. 'Get Kaylee in the engine room, make sure we have the power. Get Doc heating stuff up in the infirmary.' He instructed. Zoë moved over to the pilot seat and got on the comm., summoning the crew to the designated places. Simon responded first, as Zoë guessed he would. 'Is River okay? Did she make contact?'

'She's with Jayne, up a tree. She's gonna need some doctoring.' Was all Zoë said.

Simon didn't say anymore, and she could picture him on his way to the infirmary, drowning his worry in the familiarity of medicine.

'It's not that switch, sir.' She added as Mal reached for one.

'What?' Mal asked.

'You can't lift straight off, you'll hit the rock.' Zoë reminded him. Both of them could fly the boat in a straight line, and land and take off. They could even, at a push get them out of atmo. But neither of them were good at the fancy flying that Wash and now River could do. Zoë allowed herself the thought that she wished her husband was with them now.

'…gorram back seat drivers.' Mal muttered.

'I'm sitting beside you sir. And it's this switch.'

'…finally.' Mal exclaimed as Serenity lifted off at an angle, clearing the rock by the tiniest of margins, and he worked it around towards town.

'Uh Mal?' Jayne asked over the speaker. 'Sometime sooner would be good.'

'We're coming.'

For a few minutes there was silence as Mal pushed the boat hard towards town, completely ignoring the fly lanes he was meant to be adhering to, taking instead the direct route.

'Mal?'

'Yeah Jayne.'

'Sorry bout the shuttle.'

'We'll get it back.' Mal told him.

'…did I mention it kinda blew up?'

'IT BLEW UP?!' Mal exclaimed, the boat lurching slightly as he forgot to hold on properly. He calmed himself down with a struggle. 'Don't matter. Need the crew back, can always get spare parts.'

'How's River?' Zoë asked, trying to steer the conversation to other matters.

'Not so good.' Jayne answered.

'We're about twenty minutes out. Listen for us, you're gonna have to guide us a bit.' Mal said. He switched off the comm., and turned to Zoë. 'Take Kaylee to the hold, get the harness prepped.' He instructed.

Zoë raised an eyebrow. 'Sure you can handle the flying?'

'Yes!' Mal exclaimed, fully insulted.

Zoë crossed to the back of the bridge. 'I'll send Nara to help you.' She said before disappearing.

Mal rolled his eyes. 'No respect.' He muttered to the empty room.

-x-

The twenty minutes dragged. Jayne, as stupid as he felt, was talking to River. He knew that she couldn't hear him, but he talked anyway, wanting to hear something over the silence, something more than River's slowing breathing. 'Listen, if you die now, I'm gonna kill myself, just so's that I can come get you and kill you myself.' He told her, hitching her up slightly so that she looked more comfortable, lying across his chest. 'If'n you think I kept you alive this long so you could die just as they come to rescue us, you've got another think coming.' Jayne told her. 'and if'n ya think I shared all this body heat for nothing…' he threatened her. He couldn't look at her now, though. He couldn't stand the sight.

He stopped and listened…was that the sound of an engine in the distant? He shook his head. He was even imagining things now. 'your brother and Mal would both have my hide if that happens.' He added. 'Not that I'm scared of them, but…would be a shame to get air locked for this when I could be doing something so much worse…plus, I'd quite like to hear this swearing you think your brother can do.'

-x-

Kaylee and Zoë hitched up the hoist set, opening up the under belly of Serenity to expose the flooded grounds below. Above them, Inara made her way to the Bridge to help Mal, whilst Simon came to the upper catwalks. 'Kaylee?' He called down to her.

'Yeah?' Kaylee said, not pausing in her work on the hoist machinery.

'Can I hang blankets in the engine room?'

She paused to throw a questioning look up to him. 'Why?'

'It's the hottest room.' Simon told her.

'Oh, sure.' Kaylee said.

'The store closet behind the mess has a whole stack of them.' Zoë added.

Simon nodded and turned to leave. 'Let me know when you're bringing them in.' He said.

The two women nodded in agreement as Mal called them over the comm. 'Zoë? How's the hoist looking?'

'Workable.' Zoë said as Kaylee turned the piece of machinery on.

'We'll be in town in a couple of minutes, then I guess we start working our way out. I told Jayne to call as soon as he heard anything. Be ready.'

'Yes sir.' Zoë said.

-x-

After the long day yesterday, the even longer night, all the waiting they had endured, those five minutes searching seemed the longest. Mal knew they were close. They had been swept through the town, so they couldn't be far from there, but looking out of the windscreen at the devastation below, it was hard to see how anyone had survived. There was water as far as the eye could see. A few trees stood proud, dotted through the water, along with top levels of the higher buildings in town. Inara, standing at Mal's shoulder pointed out a bridge that must have once connected two sides of a river- it now looked bizarre, the middle rising from the water on either side.

'Where are you?' Mal muttered as he brought Serenity around for another sweep. The comm. was silent in answer. He turned around, sweeping the area again, watching the down force creating an outward ripple effect as he went as low as he dared. 'Come on, come on…' He said louder, frustrated now.

'Mal?' Jayne's voice came through the speaker as if in answer. 'I can hear you.'

'Whereabouts are you?'

'Don't know, can just hear you.'

'Getting louder?'

'…no, quieter.' Jayne answered

Mal brought Serenity around, aiming perpendicular to where he had been going.

'Yeah, yeah, I can see you. Little to the left.' Jayne told him.

Looking out of the glass, Mal finally caught sight of a large tree, the water just short of the lower branches, the bright pink coat of River's visible even at a distance. Mal would have to thank Kaylee later for lending it to her.

'Okay Jayne, we'll lower the hoist down. Think you can get in it?' Mal asked.

There was a definite pause before Jayne answered. 'Maybe.' He finally said. Mal couldn't remember the last time Jayne wasn't brashly confident about something; he could hear the doubt in Jayne's voice.

'We'll get you in.' Mal promised him. 'Somehow.' He brought Serenity round as he approached the tree, Inara guiding him to a hover directly over the tree. The waters churned under the down force from the two thrusters, the tree stirred up by the excessive wind. 'careful Mal' Jayne and Inara said at the same time, making Mal mumble under his breath about respecting captains as he fought to keep Serenity at a hover that she wasn't designed to sustain.

'Zoë? Go!' Mal commanded.

Kaylee spared a small smile as she looked down, instantly spotting the pink waterproof coat River had borrowed from her. She and Zoë carefully lowered the swing hoist through the opening, letting it out bit by bit, watching it sway as the large boat struggled to stay still. 'Come on, come on.' Kaylee heard Zoë mutter under her breath as they both watched, helpless to stop it swinging. Serenity wasn't made to hover, especially this close to the ground and over water that churned up under the force. They both knew that trying to winch the pair into the open hatch was going to take more than a little luck. Then again, Zoë considered, they'd somehow gotten in touch over radio this morning, so maybe for once luck was on their side.

Finally the hoist disappeared into the tree, caught by a large hand that came out to meet it.

'Need more slack.' Mal told them over the comm., passing on Jayne's comments. Kaylee let it out more.

-x-

Thirty feet below Jayne looked at the hoist system, looked at River sprawled unconscious across his chest and wondered if the whole gorram verse was having a good ol' laugh at his expense. There was no way River could go up alone, but Jayne couldn't see a way to get both of them up either. Finally, he stopped thinking so much, deciding it really wasn't something he did well at, and pulled the hoist round properly.

It was constructed of two hoops for the legs, with a larger padded loop for around the waist. Jayne pulled the two smaller loops free, and then the larger loop, buckling them together to make one big loop that he literally sat in, snapping it so that the loop was under his knees and across his back.

He didn't know if it would hold.

He didn't know if he had enough strength in his cold, tired body to hold onto the rope and River, but he couldn't see another way. He hadn't held the girl all night to be defeated now. 'Here we go.' He muttered, before giving the go signal over the radio. He wedged the hand held radio between him and River, holding on to the rope with one hand, River with the other.

The hoist swung away from the tree as soon as the slack was taken away, Jayne having to hold on with all his strength to the rope to keep from falling out, his other arm trying to hold River as steady as possible against him. The rope swung back the other way, knocking them against the trunk of the tree, the radio coming free and crashing into the water below. Jayne barely held on to stop River having the same fate, both of them jarred badly by the impact against the tree.

Jayne was getting frustrated now, and with the frustration was coming the anger. He hadn't survived a crash, been held at gunpoint, washed away in a flood, spent the whole night trying to keep River awake to be thrown into the water trying to get back into the boat. He wrapped his hand through the rope of the hoist, wrapped an arm tighter around River, and yelled, loudly. 'Get us up!'

Zoë, either hearing him over the engines, or more likely having the same thought at the same time told Kaylee to move the hoist quicker, seeing the hoist swing so much. The increased upward propulsion pulled heavily against Serenity, but the swinging slowed slightly. Zoë and Kaylee watched as Jayne and River winched closer to them. Jayne looked up as they got closer, his face paler than normal, scratches and bruises littering his face, but he managed a small grin up at them. The hoist swung as it moved, and they got their first good look at River. She didn't look good. Her lips stood out, blue against white, her closed eyes dark recesses in her face. She was lying on Jayne, straddling him, completely out cold. Zoë moved only enough to summon Simon to the bay.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The relief at setting down safely in the belly of Serenity was intermingled with numbness, pain and an acute sense of desperation that it wasn't quick enough for River. Jayne hated feeling helpless but all he could do was sit there, holding River tight still, waiting for someone to help her. Zoë and Kaylee untangled the hoist from them, as Simon came running into the hold. Jayne didn't think he'd ever feel relieved at seeing the doc, before he remembered how he was holding River. Simon didn't even blink though, probably wouldn't even have been able to say how they had been sitting, his only thoughts on River. He pressed two fingers to her cold neck, finding a slow thready pulse. 'I need the stretcher.' He said quietly to Zoë.

Zoë nodded and ran off towards the infirmary.

'Kaylee, are they on?' Mal's voice rang through the hold.

'Yes, cap't, they're on.'

'Shiny- get to the engine room, gonna go hard burn in three.'

Kaylee looked over at Simon, who was still assessing River and Jayne, and ran for the engine room. Wasn't like any of them wanted to stay on this go se moon.

'Jayne, can you keep holding River steady? I don't want to move her around too much.'

Jayne nodded even as his arms shook and his head throbbed and he just wanted to fall back in a heap on the warmish cargo hold floor and sleep forever.

Zoë ran back, Inara at her heels, holding the metal stretcher. Gently the three of them transferred River onto it. Jayne could only watch, and wonder why he felt the loss of the weight on his chest. He was surprised when Simon looked back at him once River was safely on the stretcher. 'I'll-'

'Go, Doc. I'll be fine.' Jayne interrupted him. Simon didn't need more urging.

Mal found him, flat out on the cargo hold floor a few minutes after he'd got them out of atmo. He heaved the big merc to his feet, walking him through to the mess, worried at the lack of response from Jayne when he told him to get out of his wet clothes and into dry ones.

Once he was dry, Mal pushed him onto the sofa, bundling him under a heap of blankets, and filled a glass with something that had to be close to pure alcohol and ordered him to drink it. Jayne was glad that he wasn't trying to push him to talk about anything, and obediently tipped the glass back, feeling a slow burn all the way to his empty gut. He didn't remember much after that. Mal pushed another glass at him, this time filled to the brim with water which Jayne also downed. He vaguely remembered tearing into some corn bread as well, but mostly he didn't remember falling asleep, right there on the sofa in the mess, helped by the alcohol, mostly just feeling too numb to do anything else.

Simon's face was a mask of professionalism, as Inara and Zoë helped strip River of her wet clothes, and he set up an IV, filling her with warmed fluid, instructing the women to bundle River in some dry clothes then under a ton of warmed blankets. He would have liked to have given her warm humidified O2 but didn't have the facilities on the ship, and had to make do with pushing the temperature in the infirmary up instead. And then, all he could do was wait.

'What now, doc?' Zoë asked.

'Nothing.' Simon answered.

Zoë looked at him, stunned. 'Nothing?'

'Raising the core body temperature takes time' Simon told them, 'and till then, it's best to be hands off.' He moved over to the counter, starting the limited number of blood test he could do without the benefit of a fully functional lab. Simon knew the science, knew that rubbing skin, or forcing movement pushed cold peripheral blood to the warming core, but he hadn't anticipated how hard it was to be hands off. Inara briefly laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, seeing his struggle.

'Is she gonna be alright?' Kaylee asked as she joined them from the engine room.

Simon looked at her, accepting a hug from her, nodding. 'Yeah, she'll be fine. Jayne really did save her.' He said, reminded of what Kaylee had told him the night before.

'What happened?'

Jayne barely paused in his demolishing of the bowl of noodles in front of him. The simple meal tasted as good as anything he'd ever eaten. He'd slept, crashed out on the sofa in the mess for a few hours. Simon has woken him up to check him over, finding similar cuts and bruises from the crash that he'd found on his sister, but nothing that wouldn't heal in time. Jayne had wanted to go back to sleep, but the smell of something Inara was cooking in the kitchen had kick started his hunger instead, so there he was, sitting at the table, wrapped in a heap of clothes and blankets still, devouring anything that was put in front of him, much to the amusement of Kaylee and Zoë.

Mal cleared his throat, trying to get the man's attention, but soon gave up with a sigh when he saw he couldn't complete with the food.

'Where're we going cap't?' Kaylee asked as she ate her own food.

'Persephone.' Mal answered. 'Badger's got a job.'

Zoë lifted one eyebrow in question of the safety of going to Badger for a job but declined from commenting.

Mal caught the look, ignored it. He didn't like Badger but they needed the jobs he could provide. And Persephone was a good seven day trip away, hopefully enough time for their pilot to be up and about again.

When it finally looked like Jayne had had his fill of food, Mal tried again. 'So, what happened?'

Jayne looked hesitant, almost; about what, Mal wasn't sure.

'Got the cash all right, lifted off, then there was some weird ass noise, and we were nose diving to the ground. Got out of the shuttle, got surrounded by men after money, got past them, got the cash out of the shuttle, then the shuttle exploded. Walked to town, some go se river bust its bank, and we ended up, up a tree. River made the radio. You know the rest.'

'Whu de ma!' Mal, Kaylee and Zoë were all staring at him, the words leaving Mal almost involuntarily. 'Busy day.' He added dryly.

Jayne looked down at the bowl in front of him, wondering if there was anymore food to be had. Zoë, as if reading his thoughts, got up and fetched the whole pot of noodles still on the counter and proceeded to fill his bowl up again. Jayne watched, one eyebrow lifted. So all he had to do to get waited on was crash, get shot at and then spend a long, freezing night up a tree. Showing wisdom he wasn't known for, he didn't comment out loud though.

Zoë settled on the hard stool, her back resting against the edge of the counter. The infirmary wasn't her favourite place to spend any time, but it was somewhat soothing in the quiet. She'd insisted on Simon going to bed, knowing otherwise the doc would sit up all night with his sister. The rest of the crew, minus Jayne who had fallen asleep in the mess again, were going to take it in turns to sit with River.

Zoë didn't think she'd seen anyone as pale as River, although she was grateful that the girl was no longer blue. She had been shivering, which had alarmed Zoë when she first arrived but Simon assured her it was actually a good sign- the body was made to shiver when it was cold, showing it was doing something right. The shivering had calmed down now, and the hand she held loosely in her own was not quite as cold as it had been. River brought out a protective feeling in her that she hadn't felt for a long time. She knew the girl was tough, hell she'd beaten a load of Reavers, but something about how petite she was, how innocent she looked, and what she'd already had to live through in her short life made her want to bundle her away from all the dangers of the world.

'Can't do that.' River's voice was hoarse.

Zoë looked up to find brown eyes watching her. 'Hey River, how are you feeling?'

'Jayne?' Was River's only question back.

'He's fine, River, cold and wet but he's good.'

'He rescued me.'

'I know.' Zoë said with a nod.

'I'm cold, Zoë.' River told her, and Zoë noticed she'd started shivering again, even under the heap of blankets.

'Ok hon, let me find some more blankets.' Zoë walked over to a stack of them on the side, spreading two more over the small girl. 'You want me to call Simon?' She asked.

'He in bed?' River asked.

'Yeah.'

River shook her head, eyes closed. 'Leave him be. So tired.'

'Then get some sleep.' Zoë said, a hint of amusement in her tone.

River didn't need to be told again.

Mal was thinking about Persephone, and what he wanted to say to Badger when his thoughts were interrupted.

'That's not very nice, captain.'

'Hey li'll witch. Stop reading my thoughts.' Mal said, looking down at River from where he was leaning against the counter.

'Can't help it. They were strong, violent.' River said with a small grin.

'Well it was Badger. How you feeling? Still cold?'

River shook her head. 'Not so much. Is Jayne ok?'

'Yeah he's good. Fell asleep in the mess.'

'He kept me safe.'

'Yeah, I know.' Mal said, uncomfortable at the notion of his merc keeping anyone safe.

'Captain?'

'Umm?'

'Are you mad about the shuttle?'

'No, li'll witch, not mad. There's always spare shuttles to be had. Can't replace crew. Don't think this boat could cope.'

River seemed to accept this, shifting under the pile of blankets. 'Is Simon mad?'

'At you? No. Very worried is all.'

'He doesn't like it when a run goes wrong.'

'Don't I know it.' Mal said with a grin. 'But not even he can blame me for the weather.'

'Did he try?'

'Of course.'

Jayne filled the infirmary door, blocking the light from the hall beyond. Simon looked at him, then did a double take. Jayne looked smaller than he remembered, head bowed, slouching- Simon couldn't remember ever seeing Jayne slouch. 'Something I can help you with, Jayne?' Simon eventually asked.

Jayne looked up at his voice, but his look went straight ahead, at the infirmary table. Simon watched curiously as Jayne shifted, an unreadable look on his face, clearing his throat before he talked. 'How is she, doc?'

Jayne's look stayed on River. Simon followed his gaze. River had lost the unnatural blue hue, even had a little colour back to her cheeks. She was sleeping now, peacefully under a stack of blankets. 'She's good, Jayne. She's good.'

'I…I tried to keep her talking. She wan'ed to sleep, but I kept her talking.'

'You did good Jayne.' For once there was no malice in Simon's tone; it was gentle, almost. 'You…you got her back here alive. You did good.'

Jayne just shook his head, muttering something under his breath as he turned and walked away. Simon watched him leave before walking back towards the bench where he had been sterilising equipment, missing River's eyes opening, her look firmly where Jayne had stood, a slight blush visible to her cheeks. Had Jayne really just said that he wished he'd just let her kiss him?


End file.
